Ruin
by Kiyumie
Summary: 8 years have passed since the dead threw humans off its throne of the world. Despite all the horrors, humans are somehow crawling their way back, rebuilding society and once again, cementing their place in this world, in this ruin. (SYOC CLOSED)
1. OC Form and Prologue

**Welp, I think I finally have the foundations for world I've created for this fanfic :) it's barely even related to HOTD anymore but whatevs haha I haven't really been active lately because there's really been a ridiculous amount of crap going on in my life that you honestly wouldn't believe this much could happen in the span of 3 weeks, most prominent of which was an emotional breakdown because my depression finally made me reach my limits and right after my car accident too. I'm okay now but I'll be seeing a counselor soon and MIGHT live in Japan with my aunt for a few weeks to change my scenery a little. Anyyywho, regarding this story, I've had this idea in my head for a while now since I'm a huge fallout fan and I've drawn inspiration and references from a lot of different games and animes to mash together to create this world :D The idea for something like this first came to me when I was reading the Benny Imura series which is a series of 4 zombie novels you should definitely check out. As opposed to All That We Are, where I was pretty much just winging it without thinking of how I actually wanted to write it, that's why its really slice of life-ish, I actually thought of how I wanted to write this one. That being said, I won't be accepting as many OCs as I did before, maybe around 10ish. However, I might try out the characters in the first few chapters before finalizing the main cast and give those I didn't select cameo roles with smaller appearances throughout the story. For those who had characters featured in All That We Are, I'm going to have to ask you not to resubmit them for this one. There's a reason for this, I assure you. :) Okay, enough rambling, this is the general outline for the world:**

The year is 2022, 8 years after humanity fell to the legions of the damned. Barely a single-digit percentage of us remain against the ocean of rotten flash. To make matters worse, the virus has evolved and mutated, causing far deadlier aberrations among the undead and even spreading to other niches of biology on Planet Earth, infecting animals as well. However, against all odds, humanity has somehow managed to cheat extinction. Banding together, humans all over the globe have adapted to survive their new planet, forming settlements and safe zones anywhere and everywhere they can. None more prominent than the city of Oasis, a quarter of the entire city of Washington D.C reclaimed and rebuilt for civilization. It now serves as the headquarters for a network of settlements scattered around the globe, having rebuilt society, reestablishing a form of economy as well as currency in the form of bullet casings with different calibers being worth different amounts. A new united combat force has been established to slowly reclaim our world, known as the Order. General militia under direct control of the new government act solely as wall guards and border patrols within the cities. However, the Order is an organization independent of any powers, holding most of humanity's strongest fighters and training recruits to become even a stronger fighting force than the militaries of the old days. Operatives, known as Knights, function either as solo agents or in squads. They are ranked based on combat and mission performance into 4 ranks.

S-Rank – The absolute best that humanity has to offer, each S-Rank operative borders on superhuman. There are only 22 S-Rank Knights in existence.

A-Rank – These are the elite force of the Order, being highly trained and able in the field. Each A-Rank has to go through a selection process along with grueling trials before being accepted for promotion.

B-Rank – The main body of the Order. This is the rank of the average Knight and what trainees are promoted to upon completing their training.

C-Rank – Comprises of trainees and non-combat personnel.

There are rumors that a rank above S-Rank exists only for monsters among humanity but these are merely ghost stories told to scare recruits… Right? The Order is almost a faction on its own and holds almost as much influence as the government however they do not control certain aspects, such as agriculture, communications and manufacturing. Humanity seems to be turning this nightmare world around. However, with our rebuilding, corruption and conflict have returned. It is the problems of the old world all over again. Only this time, we don't get a third chance.

**General:**

**Name** – Amber O'Hara

**Nicknames/Alias** – Angel

**Gender- **Female

**Age-**15

**Occupation- **Rabbit

**Sexuality** – Heterosexual

**Nationality** – American

**Ethnicity** – Caucasian

**Appearance** – Amber has straight but messy auburn hair that falls to the base of her neck along with messy bangs that cover her forehead and her left eye which she lost when she was younger. Her remaining right eye is of a somewhat playful expression and hazel in color. She has an average body for a girl her age, having moderate curves. She stands at an average height of 5'6''.

**Outfits-**

Casualwear- A plain black t-shirt with a green bomber jacket over it, torn faded skinny jeans and black boots.

An army green blouse, grey denim shorts with the same boots

Outerwear (When they venture out into the ruins)- A hooded grey bomber jacket over her usual black t-shirt, dark urban camo combat pants, grey scarf around her neck, black beanie, black leather fingerless gloves.

Sleepwear- Her black t-shirt and grey denim shorts

Winterwear- A black hoodie (She can't afford anything else)

**Advantages** – Loyal, Bold, Doesn't scare easily, Kind, Protective, Motivated, Shrewd

**Disadvantages** – Borderline Paranoid, Stingy, Reckless, Stubborn, Arrogant

**Hobbies**– She doesn't really have time for such things but she does enjoy collecting old comics that she finds and "window shopping" in the marketplace for clothes and weapons she cant afford.

**Likes** – Not starving, Not dying, anyone who helps her with what I just mentioned, her sister, guns, coffee, normal slow zombies that are easy to deal with, showing off her sarcastic wit, people complimenting her, her best friend, her CD player

**Dislikes** – Starving, Dying, anyone who tries to inflict the previous 2 mentions on her or her sister, perverts, officials, God-crazy fanatics, freak zombies that make her life oh so much more difficult, awkward situations, pretentious people, the government

**Favorite Food**\- Food

**Least Favorite Food**\- When you're on the verge of starving, you don't have a least favorite food

**Favorite Bands- **One of the few things she owns and wont sell is her old CD player that she listens to Linkin Park, 30 Seconds to Mars, Paramore, Breaking Benjamin, Hoobastank and All American Rejects from.

**Personality** – Because of the state of her life, her thoughts primarily revolve around survival and how to make ends meet. She is the main breadwinner between her and her sister taking on the more demanding and dangerous jobs to earn money for food and supplies. As such, she is extremely thrifty, greedy and somewhat materialistic. However, she has a strong sense of morals and will not go out of her way to screw someone over just for herself. Say another survivor has a lot of supplies but is attacked by zombies, she has the option to take the supplies and run but she would instead help out the other survivor. She hates that she has such a strong conscience as it makes it harder to survive but secretly she knows its one of the things keeping her sane. However, she is not above petty theft and screwing over people who have screwed her before. She has a strong sense of cost and benefit due to having had to get supplies for her and her sister to survive almost all her life. She has some major trust issues having been screwed over multiple times in the past but is generally friendly with most of the citizens but will only really trust those closest to her.

**Habits/Quirks**– She rubs her neck when she is hiding something

**History** – Amber was only 7 when the apocalypse hit. Her mother was killed in the immediate chaos of the disaster leaving her police officer father to care for her and her then 4 year old sister. They were able to fall in with a relatively large group of survivors, managing to reach a military safe zone after travelling the country for 2 months. In that time, her father and other members of the group taught Amber basic survival skills and how to handle a weapon, causing her to gain a liking for firearms. When humanity regrouped in the retaken portion of Washington D.C, the new city was named Oasis, becoming the first civilization to be reestablished in America. A new currency and economy was introduced, causing Amber's father to take a job as a Knight to feed the family of 3. However, he was killed along with his entire team due to bad info on a mission, orphaning the two girls when Amber was 10. Both the government and the Order refused to take responsibility for the botched mission, leaving the two girls to survive on their own. The two were left homeless and struggling to find any and all jobs just to earn just enough for a slice of bread a week. After spending 2 years on the verge of starvation, Amber decided to become a Rabbit, working for the Oasis underworld as a smuggler and essentially a supplier for things that are acquired illegally such as stealing from the farms. This allowed her life to become more stable but now under the constant risk of being found out and tried for treason.

**Relationships** – Best Friend- One of your OCs ;)

Sister- Adriana O'Hara- 12- Odd Job worker- Alive

"**Type"-** She has never really thought about it but she would want someone who she can always depend on to watch her back as well as someone who can keep her from ever losing herself.

**Theme songs(Completely Optional)-**

**Combat:**

**Combat "Class":**Scout

**Weapons** – Sig Sauer SWAT Patrol 556 (She barely has any ammo for it and only uses it if there is truly no other option), Long Hunting Knife (Her main weapon), Glock 17 Handgun (Once again, barely any ammo and only as last resort), Aluminium Baseball Bat

Both her guns were left for her by her father.

**Additional Gear**\- She always carries a light, small but high capacity rucksack to store anything of value she might find (She spent a lot of money buying this, one of the only things outside of basic survival supplies she ever invested in), a chest sheath for her knife, hip holster for her handgun, sling for her rifle and rope tied to her bat to sling it around her back.

**Fighting Style**\- Amber's focus is never on winning a battle but instead to get away from it as fast as possible or better yet, avoiding one altogether. She is a firm believer in live to fight another day or as her motto goes, "Live to run away another day". She prefers to remain unseen and if she must fight, try and cause a distraction before picking off her enemies one by one. She is decently skilled in fighting, as per normal of anyone who has survived this long but is nothing special except for her talent to remain unseen and get into places most wouldn't be able to.

**Strengths**-

Talented in staying hidden and moving unseen

Able to move extremely quietly

Has an excellent eye and grasp of her surroundings, easily able to use her environment to her advantage

Uncanny ability to find a way into anywhere that might seem inaccessible

**Weaknesses**-

Her blind eye limits her field of vision

She is not particularly good at combat, being more of an observer than a fighter

She has an intense fear of dying due to needing to care for her sister, which may affect her in a life-threatening situation

Her body heals rather slowly

Bleh, I kinda feel like I went full Katniss with her but eh, tbh, I kinda wanted to keep her as kind of the "camera" for this story to observe the world with. So I guess it works out that way :P

**General:**

**Name** –

**Aliases/Nicknames**–

**Gender-**

**Age- **

**Occupation- **If your OC is a knight, please include their rank

**Sexuality** –

**Nationality** –

**Ethnicity** –

**Appearance** – Please include general details like hair color, height, build etc, enough that I can form a clear image of the character. Other then that, go wild Oh yeah, urm although not part of appearance, I'd appreciate if you could describe their voice to me as well

**Outfits-**

Casualwear- You may include a maximum of 5 different outfits for casual, up to you

Sleepwear-

Winterwear-

**Advantages** – Non-Combat stuff, general advantages like good leadership or good at socializing

**Disadvantages** – Likewise but can include physical disabilities as long as they'd affect daily life

**Hobbies **-

**Likes** – General stuff

**Dislikes** – Likewise

**Favorite Food**-

**Least Favorite Food**-

**Favorite Bands-**

**Personality** –

**Habits/Quirks **– Biting fingernails, compulsive sexual drive, that kind of stuff

**History** – The more detailed the better especially if a traumatic experience is concerned

**Relationships** – Try to keep them to close friends and family. If you submit multiple OCs you may include their relationships with each other.

"**Type"-** What kind of character would you ship your OC with? If you don't want any pairing, you may also keep them single J

**Theme songs(Completely Optional)-**

**Combat:**

**Combat "Class": **Not really a strict class but what you feel could best describe your OCs combat style. Choose from Berserker, Assassin, Medic, Sniper, Scout, Leader, Jack of All Trades(Can't be good at everything, just that they can be bad at nothing or very few things), Mascot (Still needs to have weapons, just doesn't have to use them well), Support (Covering fire, brings spare ammunition, etc)

**Weapons** – Well, it's 8 years into the apocalypse so im not putting any restrictions on weapons but please be reasonable… don't be like my friend saying he wants a nuke launcher….

**Additional Gear**\- (Stuff like the kind of backpacks they have, bandoliers, med kits, nightvision goggles, that kind of stuff)

**Fighting Style**-

**Strengths**\- At least 4

**Weaknesses**\- Physical disabilities that were mentioned above may be repeated here. At least 4 as well.

**Relationship with Amber(If any):**

**Association- **

**Opinion on Amber-**

**Okie anywho ima go ahead and write a prologue here as well :D**

**Prologue:**

Bailey impatiently tapped the barrel of his M4A1 Carbine on the hood of the wrecked blue car. Krier shot him an irritated glare from his crouch in front of the gas cap, slowly letting the leftover gas siphon out from the dead car into a near empty jerry can.

"Will you knock that shit off, do you WANT half the city biting on our asses?"

"Fuck man, we haven't had a good fight in weeks since that Stalker. I'd kill for some action."

"Mate, we got lucky that it was only one of those things."

Bailey scoffed at his squad member, feeling more than a little confident in his abilities. He'd finished top 3 in his class during training and was on the fast track for a A-Rank promotion. Stalkers were tough, infected monkeys that had grown 5-inch long knife-like talons on their fingers that cut through anything but steel plated armor like butter. They were fast too and their increased muscle density made them that much harder to hurt. However, the tension in their muscles caused them to have several weak spots, pushing their hearts almost to the surface and headshots always did the trick. Well, almost always. The two continued waiting for the gas tank to empty as they absently admired how nature had reclaimed the Earth. Skyscrapers were wrapped in ivy and vegetation had all but erupted from beneath the concrete foundations creating a very literal urban jungle. Perhaps the virus that had almost wiped humanity out was natural after all, Mother Nature's way of payback for all that humans had taken from her.

Without warning, the steady drone of liquid flowing stopped causing both B-Rank Knights to turn their attention to the siphoning tube, the flow of petrol having stopped.

"That's weird, it doesn't just stop suddenly like that."

"Something blocking the tube?"

"Maybe." Krier frowned, slowly pulling the tube out of the gas tank. Suddenly, a lithe black form shot out from the abysmal darkness of the tank, latching itself to Krier's right. The man cried out in shock and pain, pulling at the long creature, desperately trying to get it off. He got it off alright, along with his entire eyeball as he screamed and writhed in agony, blood pouring like red rain from the torn and ravaged socket. Bailey swore and took aim at the creature that was now coiling itself at Krier's feet. It could have been a rattlesnake, if rattlesnakes didn't have any skin, a razor sharp spike for a tail, and fangs almost as long as his own hand. Reptiles had been immune to the virus before but obviously that had changed. Bailey was about to blast the monster into the next century when he heard a slithering sound and liquid sloshing.

Bailey's eyes turned to saucers as dozens of monster snakes erupted from the gas tank, swarming his partner as he stared on, paralyzed in fear.

"GOD, NO, PLEASE, HELP ME!" Krier screamed and pleaded in agony and panic as the snakes started biting him all over his body. His screams were cut off to a choking sound as one snake buried itself into his mouth, forcing itself down his throat to devour his organs from the inside. Finally snapping, Bailey cried out and opened fire on the snakes, not bothering to take careful aim. That was the last mistake he would ever make. A single stray bullet found its mark in the half filled jerry can, ignited the fuel within. In different times, this car might have been a lucky break, having almost a full tank of perfectly preserved gasoline. However, the chain reaction caused it to turn into an inferno that could be seen and felt almost half a mile away. Somehow, Bailey survived the blast. Unfortunate. The Knight was sprayed with liquid fire, covering his entire body and he became one with the fire. A single slit eye watched as the man desperately tried to put out the flames engulfing him and he screamed in sheer torture as his flesh melted from his bones. After a long and excruciatingly painful time, Bailey finally burned to death and the remaining snakes slithered off to find their next victims. Nothing but ash and bone remained of B-Rank Knights Kristopher Ericson and Timothy Bailey.

**Blurgh, just something to give you an idea of what the world is like 8 years after it ended :) **


	2. Prologue Extended

**Note: Okay, like the dunce I am, I forgot to include a number of details in the previous overview, THUS, this first chapter is going to give an in depth explanation of how things work. Before I continue, lemme clarify that by occupation, I mean what jobs/roles they do in the current society, like are they mercenaries, merchants, heck they can even be cooks or farmers. Anything you feel that could fit into such a place.**

Okay, as I mentioned before, Oasis is the heart of humanity's rebuilding civilization so you can imagine a lot of gears are needed to make things work. The economy works through the newly implemented currency called chi, which are bullet casings from 5 particular calibers, .22, 9mm, 5.56mm, .308 and .50cal in ascending order. These basically act as gold in the new world and can be used to buy anything within current society from food, clothing, ammo, weapons, etc. Oasis comprises of a large reclaimed portion of Washington D.C that includes the White House (Having the same function as before), the museums (That have now been repurposed for other functions such as a marketplace, a school, the military's armory, workshops and factories. An entire university campus has also been retaken which acts as the Order's base. The city has be rebuilt enough that it is almost at the same standards of living as the world before.

Oasis has 2 major "factions", the main government and the Order. The government is basically the remnants of the former US government and military, having being overtaken by the military. Therefore the government and by extension, society now follows a military hierarchy. Their responsibilities include, general administration, border security (Defending Oasis), police work, agriculture, industry (manufacturing of goods such as packaged field meals, weapons, ammo), maintaining communications equipment, all that kind of stuff.

The Order is basically the sword of humanity, they handle expeditions and missions beyond the walls to do anything from securing high value assets, escort missions or even hunting down high level "boss" mutants (explained later). Due to holding a great majority of humanity's best fighters, along with access to top-grade equipment as well as being in charge of R&amp;D, they hold a lot of power, almost on par with the government, however, they are not self-sufficient and are therefore still part of society. New recruits endure 3 full months of intensive basic training before being given a field exam of hunting a Ghoul-level "boss" on their own. This is a life or death mission, meaning no help will be given and trainees will have to survive on their own to be promoted to B-Rank.

The economy is most apparent in the marketplace where anything and everything can be found on sale, including armor, weapons, food, water, ammo, if it exists, it can be sold. Chi can be used both as currency or if the user prefers, can also be used to make their own bullets.

Now for the darker side of Oasis, a large portion of the city is still slums, where a large majority of people have been unable to keep up with the growing economy, leaving numerous people homeless and starving. Taking advantage of this, the criminal underworld has risen again, forming mafias and gangs that constantly fight each other causing chaos in the slums. The military police tries to intervene but because the slums are not directly beneficial to Oasis, they don't really care. In order to survive, many people have turned to these criminal organizations for work, providing a sufficient but by no means substantial income. These people are called "Rabbits" and are made to do anything from killing others, robbing others, raiding government facilities or smuggling people outside the walls. Some of these rabbits are made to sneak out and do jobs outside the walls, making it a very dangerous line of work, especially since most of them are not well-equipped. The criminals are relatively powerful among citizens but are still nothing compared to the government and the Order. However, they do own numerous illicit operations such as drug dens, bars, illegal gambling dens, brothels, usual GTA stuff.

Now, on to mutants. Basically the virus has evolved such that almost nothing outside the walls have remained uninfected, causing rampant mutation in almost every living organism on the planet. The common zombies still exist but are no longer the top of the food chain, instead they exist more like a new ocean where they are usually manageable but if let out of control, could cause one to drown. The main problems are aberrations. There are countless infected creatures that have mutated to become deadly killing machines, ie zombies mutating to become fast and able to scale walls, dogs that have doubled in size and grown extremely aggressive, mutated lions, rhinos, I think you get the picture. However, there are certain mutants where mutation is much more apparent than others, for example a man who has grown to 4 meters tall, his hands turned completely to talons, growing extra limbs, being able to spit acid. These stronger monstrosities are known as "bosses" and are usually quite rare but oh so much more dangerous than other mutants. They are categorized into the following threat levels in ascending order:

Ghoul

Tyrant

Hydra

Dreadnought

Finally, I'll go further into depth about how the Knight rank system works.

C-Rank Knights are essentially trainees or personnel like clerks and such. Therefore they are issued a standard kit comprising of an M4A1 Rifle, standard issue Knight uniform along with anything needed to complete training. However, should they choose to spend extra time at the shooting range, they have to pay for their own bullets. After a 3 month long "basic" training (it's almost like training to be a NAVY SEAL as well as a Marine squeezed into 3 months), all remaining trainees are sent on a graduation mission to hunt down their first Ghoul-level Boss. The trainees are given an estimate of what the average Knight would bring into the field and no other help. Whether they live or die is no longer the Order's responsibility until they come back with their mission accomplished. Those who survive and bring back proof of their mission's completion are then promoted to full-fledged B-Rank Knights. B-Ranks are the main force of the Order, each member being at least on par as an old world Marine. Order agents are allowed to choose their own jobs unless it's a direct mission sent from the higher ups. There is a bulletin board where missions are posted where Knights can decide what they want to do. Each mission has a payout or reward but the Order takes a 70% cut, leaving 30% for the agent but as these are missions that lead outside the walls, they are mostly still relatively well-paid anyway. B-Rank Knights are given the liberty to choose their own equipment but the Order only sponsors their first loadout and any subsequent equipment changes comes out of their own pocket. For each mission they complete, based on difficulty, Knights earn a certain amount of points, after accumulating a set amount, they are considered for an A-Rank promotion where they are teamed with 3 others to take on an S-Rank mission which might include clearing out an entire city district on their own or taking down a Hydra level mutant. A-Ranks are generally chosen to be squad leaders during large-scale Order operations, and are given direct access to anything they require in the Order's arsenal. Also noteworthy is that Knights are able to take on any missions they want but missions come with a recommended rank to advise on the level of skill that is likely required. Finally we come to S-Ranks. If you know Halo, these are essentially Spartans, being the absolute best humanity can offer. S-Ranks are able to take on Hydras alone and are the only ranks sent to fight Dreadnought-levels. This rank is generally not something people aim to be due to how dangerous the missions they are sent on are, instead, S-Ranks are specially picked out based on their incredible performances. The one benefit of being an S-Rank is that the pay is ridiculous. Being S-Rank allows a very luxurious lifestyle, as they are well compensated for the obscene risks that they take. They are also selected to test out new weapons and techniques the R&amp;D cooks up and all they have a blank cheque to equip themselves with.

**Alright, that should give a good enough idea of the world to create a character :) As of right now, I have said that there are only 22 S-Ranks existing but I have only 2-3 whose identities I have confirmed so you CAN send in S-Ranks if you want :D I just realized that this would make a really awesome game haha This story is heavily based on Fallout, World Trigger, Resident Evil and to an extent, Tokyo Ghoul and I've always liked the idea of a guild kind of thing in a zombie apocalypse but I'm not sure how this sidelining of zombies direction will fare but lets do it anyway :P As for All That We Are, I'm kinda at a standstill of what I want to do with it at the moment. I definitely want to finish it, but I need to sit down and really think about how I go about it. So for now, I'll occupy myself with this for a little and hopefully that gives me some idea of what I want to do with Kaede and Co :)**


	3. Chapter 1: Welcome to DC

**Note: Blargh, alrighty, I've kind of thought of a general outline of the story beats and have more or less figured how everyone fits in. I'm also changing a few things about Amber, namely her alias which is now Shadow because Angel had absolutely no relation to her characteristics whatsoever. I've also decided not to make her one-eyed either so Im just changing her bangs to choppy and uneven with a choppy line above her eyes. Also something else im changing is what the currency is called because chi is 2chingchong4me. I'm gonna go with calbs, cos caliber. A little something to note beforehand, this story will probably stray a little in realism because A. I wanted to play around with superhumans and B. I wanted to keep a slightly light hearted anime feel to it. It won't be something completely over the top, but it probably wont be completely down to Earth either. Just a warning :) And with that, lets start!**

A shambling corpse continuously walked into the glass window of an old comic shop. The old shop used to be a place of wonder where the imaginations of youth ran wild. Now, it was a tomb for relics of the old world. Its former shopkeeper ,with the nametag Todd, softly bumped at the window, his ravaged muscles nothing more than rot and decay. Outside the window was freedom, as much freedom as could be applied to one of the undead. However, the idea of opening a door was now alien to his long-dead brain so he simply kept walking into an invisible wall, as he had for the past 8 years.

A jingle sounded and Todd turned to the strange noise. It had been the first noise apart from the bumping that he'd heard for years. His eyes were long blinded but his ears barely had time to register a soft but rapid thumping before a freshly sharpened and serrated blade was plunged into his skull, ending his eternal torment.

Amber O'Hara raised her right leg and pushed the dead zombie off her hunting knife with a bored expression on her face. Wiping the bloody knife on her dark urban combat pants with one hand, she casually tucked a lock of stray auburn hair behind her left ear before taking a closer look at her surroundings. A sly grin crept onto her mouth as she found that other than a few overturned shelves, most of the shop and its goods remained intact.

"Remind me again what we're doing in a geek central?"

Amber turned around to see one of her closest friends, Jade Jones or better known as Deadeye, leaning against the doorway with an unimpressed and almost disgusted look as she scanned the rows and rows of comics. The petite 4'11'' raven-haired woman stepped in, closing the door behind her and scowled when the doorbell rang again. Amber rolled her eyes and smirked at her friend, looking her straight in her dark green eyes.

"These things are worth a whole lot of calbs in the black market, especially if you can get them in a set. Obviously no one makes these anymore so they're valuable to the right people. That, and they're good to read if you're bored, even if you can't get a buyer."

Jade snorted and holstered the silenced B92F pistol she'd been holding back into her leg holster before fishing a small bottle of Adderall out of her pouch.

"Can you toss me a bottle? Gotta take my pills."

Amber absently grabbed a half-full bottle of water and threw it in Jade's general direction as she searched through the piles of old literature for more valuable pieces, confident that she would catch it, which she did. Jade swallowed a pair of anti-ADHD pills with a gulp of water before closing the bottle and smiling.

"You know, back in my day, you got stuck in lockers if you got caught reading this shit."

"Back in your day people didn't eat each other and birds didn't grow the size of dogs."

"Point."

Jade secretly smiled affectionately at her much younger friend, recalling how they'd met. Quite the unlikely encounter of a starving girl doing anything and everything for scraps to meet an A-Rank Knight in the order. Jade had liked the girl's determination from the start, and had offered to help her and her sister but Amber had refused, stubborn and determined to rely only on herself and did not want charity.

"How'd you find this place anyway?"

"Marcy tipped me off. Was thanks for the time I helped her with the mall job. Untouched places like these this close to the walls are really hard to find."

Jade frowned and walked up to her friend, who sensed her approach and turned around from the comics.

"That girl is dangerous Amber. Her name is more known in the MP than yours. She's even got some B-Ranks looking for her. You'll get in trouble if you hang around her."

Amber looked her straight in her eyes, not a shred of humor in her hazel eyes.

"I'm a rabbit, Jade. Trouble kinda comes with the package."

Jade sighed and threw her hands up in the air.

"I know, I know. Look, I'm just looking out for you okay. I don't have many friends and you're one of them. That means you're important to me, blockhead."

Amber's ears turned pink and her lips formed into a small smile.

"Thanks, Deadeye."

"Don't call me that, I have enough of that from the wide-eyed greenhorn B-Rankers. Speaking of which, I really do think you should consider joining the Order. With your skill set, you'd make it easy."

"Thanks buuuuut no." Amber dismissed the idea with the wave of a hand before turning back to the comic books.

"Not after what happened with my dad."

Jade opened her mouth to argue but stopped herself, knowing it was a lost cause. Instead she sighed again before crouching down next to Amber.

"Alright, tell me what you're looking for so we can get the hell out of here asap. I already feel like a loser just standing in here."

**2 hours later**

The comic book store that the pair had scavenged lay in a deserted neighborhood barely an hour's walk from Oasis. Hence, the journey was rather uneventful as the area was mostly cleared by the Order, save for some stragglers. Jade liked to say that she tagged along on some of Amber's illegal trips outside the wall because she felt responsible and protective of the teenager but in reality, she just liked the company. The two talked about mundane things and events that had happened in their respective and contrasting lives as they hiked through the ruins of Washington D.C.

"I could be S-Rank, easy, I even took out that Dreadnought alone but those brass pricks wouldn't authorize the promotion due to "lack of evidence"." Jade raised her fingers and said the last part in a mocking tone, making a face and Amber giggled.

"Okay firstly, from what you told me, you shot it with an Anti-Tank rifle while it was asleep, so you have to admit, that was good luck. Why do you want to be S-Rank anyway? Way I hear it, they go on suicide missions everyday."

"Girl, do you know how much those snobs get paid? Easily 5 times what I do. Besides, you know why I want to be recognized."

"Right." Amber pursed her lips before the conversation could drift further into the sensitive topic. Jade had told her about how she wanted to make her late mentor proud by ascending to the best of the Order. It was a far more noble purpose than her simple aim for her younger sister and her survival.

The two stopped in front of a derelict old Walmart, the wall within less than a kilometer.

"Welp, this is where we go our separate ways."

"Don't be such a drama queen." Amber playfully punched Jade in the shoulder making the older woman laugh. Jade reached into her pouch and pulled out a handful of calbs, holding it out to her friend.

"Here." Amber glared angrily at her friend.

"I told you I won't accept charity."

"Geez, lighten up will ya? You take yourself waaaaay too seriously. It's for Ana's birthday, nimrod. It's today isn't it?" Amber blinked, slightly touched that her friend remembered her little sister, Adriana's, birthday.

"Yeah… Look I appreciate it, but I can't take this for free." She said slowly. Jade looked simply appalled and shocked.

"Who said it was for free, you cheapskate? I expect a nice present from you this year, maybe a new gun, or heck, you know I'm looking for Resident Evil games." Jade grinned, earning a smile from Amber, who reluctantly accepted the money.

"Fine. Thanks, Jade."

"Don't mention it." Jade grabbed her graffiti gas mask from its strap on her hip and put it on before starting to walk in the direction of the main gate. Without turning back, she raised her right hand in a wave while shoving her left hand in the pocket of her black hoodie.

"Say hi to the little tyke for me."

Amber muttered her assurance before turning towards the small hole in the wall that had become a common passage for many rabbits in the city. She idly counted the calbs that she'd been given as she walked, finding a .308 and 9 5.56mm casings. She smiled absently, knowing that it'd take her forever to repay this and that Jade would somehow find some excuse to make her forget about it. Arriving at the hole that was covered with a wooden pallet to hide its presence, she took a quick scan around her to make sure no one was watching before moving the cover and slipping in. She was an easy fit in her smallish frame of 5'6'' and she pulled the cover back, making sure it concealed the hole completely before crawling through the short tunnel.

Coming to a dead end, she knocked on a wooden surface before the dead end was pulled aside and she emerged within the city. Amber glanced at the slums around her, watching her fellow homeless people trying to sell junk and doing hard labor just to stay alive. She cringed as she remembered how that was her not that long ago. Tossing a 9mm calb at the hole's lookout, she pulled her scarf around her mouth before shoving her hands in the pockets of her grey hooded bomber jacket. Staring at the floor and indulging in the thought of how she'd probably be able to afford a small apartment for Adriana and her within 3 months, she strolled towards the market, intent on buying some decent food with the money that had been given to her to celebrate her sister's birthday.

As she walked past the stalls, she looked yearningly at the weapon store, eyeing a special on 5.56mm ammo. She was more than a little tempted to spend some of her savings to buy a box and finally be able to use the SIG Sauer 556 SWAT Patrol that her father had left for her but that would set her back in her goal for an apartment by a lot. Therefore, she reluctantly pried her eyes away and entered the provision store, which was set up in the information booth of the old science museum. Picking out a pack of beef jerkey, a can of beans along with a full loaf of bread, she managed to haggle a good price with the shopkeeper for the .308 and 6 5.56mms, leaving her a little left to add to her savings. Satisfied, she shoved the food into her rucksack, before eagerly leaving the marketplace and returning to the slums.

She was about a block away from her place when she heard footsteps behind her. Footsteps from _boots._ Almost nobody could afford boots in the slums. The only reason she had them was because she'd bought one of Jade's old pairs for a heavily discounted price. Hastening her pace, she started cutting through alleyways and walking in circles. The boots matched her pace and continued following her. Finally, she heard someone clear his throat behind her and she stopped.

_Oh crap._

"You seem a little flustered, Miss O'Hara."

Amber awkwardly turned around and forced an awkward smile, which resembled a cringe more than anything. A tall boy, built athletically sleek with power, wearing a dark brown jacket over a navy blue t-shirt and dark jeans stood with his arms folded, watching her.

"Uh, hey, what's up, Alex?"

B-Rank Knight Alexander Issac Evans smiled smugly at Amber, his tall 6'2'' frame towering over her as he strode closer to her. Causing her more than a little unease. His hazel eyes, only a slightly darker shade than hers, scanned the much smaller girl, causing her nervousness to show.

"That's Knight Alex to you Amber, and you seem awfully "well-dressed" today. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were dressed to go outside the walls, but that's crazy right?" Amber laughed nervously and ran a hand through her hair.

"You know me, sir, as law-abiding as can be." She stopped and her smile faded as she saw that his sharp features had turned stern.

"What's in the bag?" Amber's heart skipped a beat, knowing that the comics in her rucksack would be more than enough evidence of her escapade beyond the city.

"Some food I bought for my sister's birthday." A sliver of a smile crept onto Alex's lips at the mention of Adriana. Many of the people who knew Amber all had a soft spot for her little sister.

"What else?"

"Nothing."

"Then you don't mind if I check it on the Order's authority." Amber gulped as Alex smiled, knowing he had her trapped. Without hesitating, Amber turned her eyes behind Alex and shouted.

"The jig is up! Get out of here!" Alex whirled around, scanning the alleyway behind me before realizing that he'd been duped. He turned back to see Amber turning a corner and he cursed, giving chase.

"You can't outrun me!" She didn't have to. Amber had completely vanished like a ghost before Alex even reached the corner. Alex swore and gave a sigh, mildly impressed at how well Amber lived up to her nickname, Shadow. She was almost certainly still somewhere in the alleyway but he knew his chances of finding her were next to none. She couldn't be found if she didn't want to be.

"You can't keep hiding forever. Stop going out there, Amber. It's not just dangerous, but if you get killed or arrested, who's going to look after Adriana? It's not worth it." He waited a few seconds before sighing.

"Wish Adriana happy birthday for me." With that, he turned and strode off, leaving his objective to herself.

Amber listened to the fading footsteps from the top of a small roof that she lay on, facing the sky. She'd managed to scramble up a pipe and jump to it right before Alex had turned the corner. It was a close call. After waiting a while more, she was confident that the Knight had left and she jumped back down to the ground. Deciding to stick to the shadows, she carefully made her way through the darkening streets as the sun set, making sure she was not being followed. Many of the alleyways were filled with homeless people who had nowhere else to go. Amber and her sister lived in a similar one but fortunately; they had found a particularly secluded area where they had their privacy. It was a step up from what a lot of people had.

Pulling aside a piece of cardboard that acted as their front door, she stepped into her "house" which was a slightly open space in an alleyway where she'd set up a few metal sheets to act as a roof and covered the floor with pieces of cardboard. She'd even managed to get an old mattress. Amber smiled as she spied her little sister sewing a hole in a grey shirt, one of the many odd jobs she partook in to help pitch in.

"Hey Kitty." Adriana turned at the sound of her sister's voice, her face brightening as she lowered her work and got up before running to hug her sister, her pigtails swinging in the air.

"You're back!"

"Uh huh, I've got a surprise for you." She grinned at her sister's curious expression before setting her rucksack down on their bed and pulling out the food. Adriana's jaw dropped at the sight of so much food.

"How did you-?" She was silenced when Amber put a finger to her lips.

"Secret. Anyway happy birthday, sweetheart." Adriana gave her sister an adorable smile that was to die for, before hugging her sister again. Amber returned the embrace and they both simply enjoyed each others touch for a few precious moments. They were all each other had left.

"Oh I almost forgot." Amber reluctantly pulled herself away from the one most precious to her before reaching into her rucksack again. She peered in and rifled through the numerous pieces of comics before coming across 2 that she had no intention of selling. The final two volumes from the manga, K-On!.

"I found these while I was out, and I knew you were missing these two." Adriana took the books excitedly and almost started jumping up and down.

"Oh my god! Thank you so much!"

"Don't mention it. Oh, Jade and Alex wish you happy birthday too." Adriana's cheerfulness paused at the mention of the latter's name, as she gave her sister a concerned look. Amber simply waved away her worries.

"Relax, I just ran into him today, and I gave him the slip. He's a nice guy, other than the fact that he's always on my ass. Guy needs to learn to take a girl's hint that she's not interested." Adriana giggled before getting up to fetch some remaining food from the night before to add to the rare feast. Amber watched her sister affectionately and wondered just what she'd do without her baby girl.

**Welp, there's the first chapter. :) I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out and it goes to show the difference it makes when you actually sit down to think about what to write and not just winging it. I'll probably introduce two or three characters each chapter if I can and try to pace this well so it flows much better and just a heads up, some surprises may be in store :)**


	4. Chapter 2: Schrodinger

**Note: About 3 weeks ago: Blurgh, well, sitting down to write another chapter, honestly, I could be writing a lot more but I've literally been doing nothing but sleeping lately, I literally wake up in the morning, play games for an hour or two, then go back to sleep lol I'm such a lazy kitty x.x I'm also probably gonna write down a list of the characters and who is who because constantly sifting through my pms is getting on my nerves urgh. Anywhooo, I haven't really finalized the OC list yet as I'm still thinking about some of them but regardless of whether I accept them, if I don't accept them for the "main" cast, I'll probs still put them in for cameo roles as thanks for the submissions :)**

Stretching her back and limbs, Amber groaned as she wiggled her body reminiscent of a cat to loosen her muscles before pulling out a change of clothes from the duffel bag that acted as both her and Adriana's wardrobe. Replacing her grey denim shorts with a pair of tattered skinny jeans, she pulled on her boots and threw on her other bomber jacket, one colored an olive green. She threw a glance back at her still asleep sister and smiled as she tied her straight but messy auburn hair into a loose ponytail and brushing her bangs aside, a rush of affection surging through her. Adriana looked so peaceful and serene in her sleep, as though her innocence was untouched by the horrors that plagued the world. It really did make Amber feel that they were going to make it.

Grabbing her knife and aluminum baseball bat, she threw her rucksack over her shoulder and slung the bat on the other before leaving the alleyway, careful to cover it back up with the cardboard. She set back out for the marketplace, running through the tasks she had for the day. She had to get some maintenance done on her weapons before her next outing beyond the walls and also had to sell off the comic books. She figured she should also go see if there was any work available. After yesterday's encounter, Amber was careful to remain inconspicuous and invisible all the way; careful to make sure she was not being followed.

She visited the not so legal pawn shop ran by one of the bigger gangs that she had worked for and managed to get good prices on the comic books, much to her delight. Counting her earnings she cheerfully thought that her own apartment was a lot closer than she had thought and was practically glowing as she skipped towards the blacksmith she frequented, a wide grin on her face. Her joyous mood was interrupted when a military police patrol passed by and she quickly looked down as they passed, making sure her bangs covered her eyes with shadows. Confident that no suspicion had been thrown on her, she sighed in relief before continuing towards Rodger's Pit.

"Gooood mornin' , Blade!" Amber said cheerfully as she pushed open the door into the shop, taking in the large furnace that Dylan had somehow lugged back to Oasis, the numerous makeshift anvils he had scattered around, and the large whetstone he currently sat behind, sharpening what looked to be a Katana. Amber saw that other than Dylan, a stocky man with short military hair and an overabundance of body hair, there was one other person in the shop, presumably a customer, who was browsing the numerous racks of custom made high quality melee weapons that Dylan prided himself on.

"How's it goin', Amber? I'll be with you in a sec." Dylan flashed the young girl a smile before turning his goggled eyes back to his work. The customer, a woman, paid no attention to the exchange nor did she turn when Amber moved next to her to look at the weapons as well. Out of curiosity, Amber glanced at the woman and saw that she stood at about 5'5'', with a sleek and slim body, her long dark bangs completely covering the right part of her face and her right eye with the rest of her hair pulled into an off-sided ponytail to the left. She wore a denim vest that covered only her upper torso over a black t-shirt with designs of an old world band called Paramore, and wore jeans not unlike her own, with grey high cut converse sneakers. What caught Amber's eyes the most were the earpieces she had in her ears with wires leading to something in her jeans pocket.

Amber blinked, completely surprised as working portable music players were extremely rare and wondered who this woman who seemed only slightly older than her was. Amber heard the grinding of the whetstone stop before hearing Dylan's voice.

"Alright, Shiro! All done!" The woman, Shiro, turned away from the rack and pulled the right ear piece out of her ear before walking over and examining the blacksmith's work. She nodded in approval and flashed Dylan a small smile.

"Thanks, Blade, how much do I owe you?"

"Same regular discount price, 2 .308s and a 5.56." Snow pulled a pouch out of her other pocket and dropped the calbs into Dylan's palm before sheathing her katana and grabbing it.

"Seeya around." Dylan waved goodbye as she put the earpiece back in her ear and left. Curiosity getting the better of her, Amber leaned over the counter and eyed Dylan playfully who was wiping his brow with a dirty piece of cloth.

"So who was that?"

"One of my regulars, one of the few Knights I can actually stand."

"Wait, she's Order?"

"Yup, but don't let that fool you. She's actually a really nice girl, if a bit over competitive. Plus, she lets me work on one of the finest blades I have ever seen in my life."

"Huh, I was more thinking of why she'd come to you when she could easily let the Order guys handle her shit."

Dylan shrugged before awkwardly moving towards the furnace and lighting it up for the day. He had been a former B-Rank Knight who'd lost his left leg to an iron beam crushing it, and had replaced it with a prototype prosthetic, courtesy of Order R&amp;D. However, blaming the Order for bad intel, he'd left and started his own forge instead. The prosthetic was pretty advanced and responsive but it still left his movement on his feet sluggish.

"So what can I do ya for today, missy?" He called over his shoulder while tending to the coals.

"Simple maintenance on the knife. Nothing fancy."

"You sure I can't interest you in one of my new toys."

"Thanks, Dylan, but if I gave in, that'd set my apartment back by a few months at least."

"Ah, well, can't blame a guy for trying."

Amber had just placed her weapons on the table when she was suddenly knocked forward by a tackle and only barely managed to keep from slamming into the table. Long slender arms wrapped around her in a tight hug and she felt someone's cheek nuzzling against hers from behind.

"Amy, Amy, Amy!" A sweet and innocent voice cooed into her ear.

"Hngh, urgh, I can't breathe, Marcy!" Amber gasped and was relieved when she felt the arms loosen. She turned around and saw her 16-year old best friend, Marceline Chovosky, gleaming at her with her cheerful bright green eyes. Marcy put a hand onto the top of Amber's head, teasing her about the fact that she was slightly taller at 5'8''. Amber gave a playful pout before realizing that Marcy had not come alone.

A former B-Rank Knight turned fellow Rabbit, Ezreal Contra formed the third corner of their dynamic triangle. Amber grinned at him and the 5'10'' athletic 17-year old returned the gesture.

"What's up, Amy." Ez droned in his thick Australian accent.

"What, apart from having the daylights squeezed out of me?" Amber giggled before turning back to Marcy.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"Looking for you, of course! I found us a big one! Chesire's got a big jo-" She was cut off when Amber slapped her hand over her mouth, her face having drained of color.

"Are you crazy? You don't just say that name anywhere." She whispered furiously before turning nervously towards Dylan who was now whistling and pretending he hadn't heard anything.

"I was just wondering about how if the authorities showed up, I'd tell them all about how I didn't hear someone talk about working for one of the most dangerous criminals in the city." He called out a little too cheerfully before winking at Amber who slowly removed her hand and Marcy blushed slightly, embarrassed at her lack of discretion. The three Rabbits awkwardly waited in silence, Ez repeatedly straightening his old battered leather jacket, Marcy twirling her finger in her side-swept bangs and playing with her shoulder length hair and Amber simply bit her lip in silence. After what seemed like forever, Dylan finally placed the sharpened and polished knife on the table before Amber paid and thanked him. The trio then left together before continuing their discussion from before but this time, their voices mere whispers.

"Anyway, as I was saying, Chesire is putting together a team of 3 for a job he has coming up. I already talked to him and Ez and I are pretty much already in. It's a big score, you'd have enough to cover the rest of the cost for that apartment you want and then some."

"Yeah, sounds a little too good to be true. What's the catch? We robbing the order?" Amber asked sarcastically only to be met with a nervous expression causing her jaw to drop.

"Tell me you're shitting me." She stared dumbfounded at her best friend before turning to Ez who simply nodded.

"Marcy are you insane? Raiding the fucking Knights?"

"Will you hear me out?"

"So you can try to convince me to hop on a suicide mission that'll get us all killed?"

"We're not robbing them! Not exactly… There's just a certain item that's being smuggled from Seattle that Chesire needs us to pick up. Its just that it happened to get dropped in Delta."

"Delta. As in big monster orgy-fest, Delta." It wasn't even a question. The three had just reached the entrance to an actual restored sleazy club that Chesire owned, Schrodinger's Palace, and Amber was close to simply walking away.

"Look, if it was easy, it wouldn't pay this well. But Delta's been quiet for so long, and with our skills, even if there were trouble, we could just sneak right by. Think about it, Amber, you and Ana wouldn't need to sleep in the streets anymore."

Amber thought about it, and while she still felt it was a bad idea, the idea of getting Adriana off the streets and into a safe home was too tempting for her to ignore. She sighed and finally gave in.

"I'll listen to what he has to say, that's all I promise." Marcey's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and she started jumping in excitement while holding Amber's hand in her own.

The club was exactly what you'd expect, a monument of all the vices that not even the apocalypse managed to kill off. Several drunkards downed bottle after bottle of booze to forget about the screwed up state of the world, several already knocked out in the late morning. Junkies lay sprawled all over the floor, high on whatever passed for drugs these days. Several girls of varying ages solicited around less than friendly looking men trying get their attention. Amber didn't judge them, everyone did what they had to survive, plus she'd come very close to being in that position after her father died.

At the back of the club was a booth shrouded in shadow where Isaak Chesire, arguably the most ruthless criminal boss in the Oasis underworld at the age of 19, sat with a scantily clad lady in each arm, his black AK-12 rifle by his leg, propped up on the seat, and an entourage of underlings who seemed a little too eager for a fight. The guards were for show, it was well-known how deadly and ruthless the young man was even on his own, despite his fairly effeminate appearance and moderate size and could easily handle any trouble that headed his way. Put simply, the boy would have made Scarface proud.

"Well, well, the Princess, the Knight and even the Shadow, herself." Chesire grinned smugly, the menace apparent in his bright emerald eyes. Amber felt a shiver run down her spine but gave nothing away, simply nodding at the use of her alias.

"I take it you've been told what you'll be doing?"

"Only that you have something that needs to be picked up from a place it shouldn't be."

"Hmm, that's one way of putting it." Chesire shrugged, releasing the two women in his arms and coldly gesturing for them to leave.

"I don't suppose you could tell exactly what your package is doing in Delta?"

"I'm not paying you to ask why, you just worry about the how." His expression remained nonchalant but the warning was clear in his tone. Ez and Marcey shifted nervously and carefully eyed the twitchy guards.

"Speaking of which, how much are you paying us anyway?" Amber asked, standing her ground. Chesire seemed to notice and seemed momentarily impressed before smirking smugly. He nodded to the underling to his immediate left who produced a large potato sack that jingled noisily from behind the seat. He set it on the table with a surprisingly heavy impact and the jingle of bullet casings.

"1500 .50s. However you split it is your boo boo." He stated arrogantly before leaning back against the seat, flicking his head to flick his long messy black hair out of his left eye, to enjoy the sight of Amber's amazement. The 16 year old girl stood there with her mouth wide open and her hands shaking, not believing what she'd just heard. 1500 .50s, that meant 500 for each of them. She'd be able to get the apartment easily along with enough food, ammo and supplies to last her sister and her a long time. She turned to look at her companions who had similar expressions on their faces and they already knew between them that they were going to take the job. However, Amber simply could not shake a feeling of unease and turned back to the young crime boss, skepticism clear in her eyes.

"There's no way you're paying us this much for a simple delivery job, even if it is in Delta."

"There might be some others looking for it but they shouldn't be a problem. I believe in high risk, high rewards."

"If these others aren't going to be a problem, what's the risk?" Chesire flashed a grin of pure cruelty and menace and Amber was instantly reminded of the cat that was his namesake.

"You pick up the package and come back, or you don't pick it up and you better not come back at all."

**Okay well, I think I owe you guys an apology, I kinda just disappeared off the radar cos I was dealing with a lot of stuff that I don't want to get into and while things are better, I'm kind of still having troubles with stuff so idk how regular ill be but im not dropping any of my fanfics. I intend to finish them however long it takes. On another note, I've thought about certain OCs that I've gotten and I think I know who im keeping and who im not, im mostly keeping people who I think I can work with, but im still taking OCs if anyone still wants to send them in, even if im not writing as much as id like. I actually already had this chapter written halfway about 4 weeks ago but I never finished it until today and it wasn't really writer's block either, I just wasn't emotionally fit for it. Anywho, enough with that, I'll answer some general things that I see a number of people raising in the reviews, starting next chapter, I'll reply to each individual review but atm, I kinda wanna keep interaction to a minimal so I don't drag anyone into my depression. My style of writing is that I focus more on what the characters notice and their interactions rather than a broad picture so some things probably wont be answered purely through my writing, which is why I tried to explain as much as I could about how the world works in the prologue. I'll probably drop in these world knowledge kind of things whenever I feel something needs to be explained, kind of like the post credits trivia in world trigger. The first chapter was kind of to ease you guys into what everyday life for a rabbit is like before things start to pick up, I feel like I have a decent timeline thought out for this already instead of my other fanfic where I just wrote what came into my mind first. I might end up rewriting that one but we'll see. Anyhow, ima just end it off here by saying im sorry for being so inactive, gomene minna x.x I just really needed some time to myself. I'm not gonna promise anything but I'll try my best to be more active now, so thanks to everyone who's still gonna be reading! Also, the next chapter is going to be longer, this one is short cos I just wanted to finish it after leaving it for so long. **


	5. Chapter 3: Grave of Ruin

**Surprise update! You guys thought I was gone didn't you :P **

Amber loaded all 12 of her 5.56mm rounds into her SIG 556's magazine before slinging it over her shoulder and tucking her Glock 17 with its single full magazine into her belt before grabbing her two melee weapons, slinging the aluminum bat over her back and holding her knife in her hand. She yearned for her younger sister, suddenly wanting nothing more than to see her face before she embarked on what could very well be a suicide mission. A sense of foreboding overwhelmed her as she took in her home. It might not have been much, but it was the only place that Ana and her had to themselves, the only place they could truly have called theirs.

All the signs said that the mission would go smoothly, that the supposed high danger area they were going to had been clear for months. So why did it feel like she was not going to return? Amber shook her head, trying, and failing, to shake her paranoia. She had always been that way, jumping straight to worst-case scenario at the get-go.

_Get a grip, Amber. It's going to be fine. You're gonna do this, get the money and take Ana out of this crap hole._

She took a deep breath, finally managing to calm her nerves somewhat. She was suddenly very thankful that Adriana was out working chores for the day and was not there to see her completely geared out with her guns and freaking out.

_You're gonna give that little girl a heart attack._

Amber chuckled before sighing and finally leaving her home, carefully covering up the entrance before pulling the hood on her coat jacket over her head, shrouding her face in shadow. She took great care to make sure she was not followed as she made her way to the meeting point, not wanting a repeat of the previous day's fiasco right before she was actually about to break the law.

_Oh hey, officer, nice weather huh? Oh, these weapons? I'm just going to old Mrs Lewis's to scrub the floor with this assault rifle! I'm totally not intending to break the law and leave the city to work for a dangerous criminal! Absurd!_

She shook her head as she closed in on her destination, eyeing a similarly suspicious figure in a baggy white hoodie enter the alleyway ahead of her. She sighed and shook her head at Marcy's choice of clothing.

_Yeah, because white is totally inconspicuous in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Really, Marcy?_

Stepping into the alleyway that led to the hole in the wall, Amber saw that everyone else had already assembled. Everyone simply meant Chesire in a black tank top and cargo pants, with a duffel bag under his shoulder, Marcy with her revolver in its hip holster, a golf club slung over her shoulder like my bat and her hatchet tucked into her belt and her blue backpack strapped to her back. Finally, Ezreal wore a heavily modified version of his former Order uniform, a grey jacket dyed forest green over dark jeans with the Order's emblem of a female angel holding 2 swords on his shoulder replaced with a skull. He still had his M4A1 carbine, that had been issued to him when he joined the Order, slung under his arm.

Chesire spotted Amber and gave a wicked smirk.

"About time you joined us. I was starting to think you'd chicken out."

"Yeah, and have you send your people after my sister and me for backing out? No thanks." She snorted.

"Fair point." Chesire set his bag onto the floor, before pulling a map out. As he unzipped the bag, everyone else caught a glimpse of his rifle inside it.

"Where'd you get that thing?" Ezreal enquired, unable to control his curiosity. Chesire looked up and blinked, confused as to what he was referring to.

"Excuse me?"

"Your AK-12. Not exactly the most common gun to find around here." Chesire smirked cruelly upon hearing this before turning back to the map.

"Got it off someone who didn't need it no more. Now, Delta's a pretty big place, but I've been told that the package is in its Eastern outskirts."

"And what exactly _is_ the package?" Amber asked, getting rather annoyed that they had not even been told what they were looking for. Chesire simply froze and there was a pause before he spoke.

"You'll know it when you see it." He said a little too quickly. Amber's eyes widened before throwing her hands in the air.

"Are you fucking kidding me? You don't even know what your package is?" Before she could react, Chesire had his face to her's, moving so fast he was a blur, close enough that she could feel his breath, his expression impassive but she could not help but notice a slight blush on his feminine cheeks. Despite his badly hidden embarrassment, the message was clear. He would not stand for such a tone being used on him. He slowly moved his face away before holding up a device of some sort that looked remarkably like one of the old broken mobile phones I saw everywhere.

"The package was marked, when you get within half a mile on it, you can find it with this." He sneered before pressing it into Amber's hand a little too forcefully.

"Just one question, why do you want it if you don't even know what it is?" Marcy interjected, hoping to defuse the situation. After staring Amber in the eyes for a few more seconds, he turned away, replying non-chalantly.

"Whatever it is, it's supposed to be worth a lot to the right people. If it brings in profit, I don't care what it is." He stepped to the hole in the wall and pulled aside the debris hiding it before stepping aside and grinning like a wolf. He held out his hand, beckoning us to go.

"What, you're not coming with?" Ezreal raised an eyebrow.

"If I was going to go get it myself, why the hell am I paying you?"

"Then what did you even bring the rifle for?!"

"Hey, never know when it comes in handy." Chesire chuckled before walking towards the entrance of the alleyway to leave. He stuck out his hand with his elbow still stuck to his waist that said "seeya later".

"Bring the package back to the Palace. I'll have your payment ready." Without another word, he disappeared back into the city, leaving the three rabbits to look at each other. Amber sighed and took the vanguard as she knelt down at the hole.

"Let's get this crap over with."

**3 hours later**

The small team of Rabbits stepped into a small clearing, a welcome change from crawling through the rubble and ruin of Washington DC, never knowing when a loose piece of debris could end up splattering you across the ground. Amber pulled her hood off her head and took in the remains of Georgetown, now better known as Delta District, just on the outskirts of cleared territory. It was not exactly that far from the city but given that most of the route was covered in collapsed buildings, and having had to circle wide around the city perimeter from their exit in the slums, 2 hours was relatively good time counting in the few scattered groups of undead they had to fell.

They had spotted a giant deformed cross between a crocodile and monkey, that looked to be a Hydra-class according to Ezreal, feasting on an unidentified carcass that they chose to leave unidentified in a canal right outside an entrance into the city's sewer network. Luckily, the abomination was too occupied with its meal to notice them and they slipped right past it.

Amber turned around and choked down a laugh as she saw Marcy trip over a broken pipe sticking out of the ground and almost falling, being saved by Ezreal just in time who grabbed her arm and pulled her back onto her feet. Marcy thanked him before glaring at Amber who was trying and failing not to grin stupidly.

"This beautiful face could have been disfigured and you're laughing?! How could you ever face the world knowing that you laughed when such a treasure was lost?"

"Oh? I thought it would have been an improvement." Amber sniggered while readjusting the sling on her rifle which had fallen slightly off her shoulder as Marcy walked up to her, holding out her hand and bopping the shorter girl on the top of her head.

"Yeah, yeah, shorty." She said while ruffling up Amber's hair causing her to scowl while pushing Marcy's hand away. She didn't bother managing her hair since it was always messy anyway.

"Princess, you're two inches taller than me. You ain't a 6 foot wonder either." Marcy pulled away with her body bent over and her hands behind her back while smiling sweetly at Amber.

"As long as I'm taller than you, you'll always be a midget." She chimed in a sing song voice earning a groan from her best friend who pulled the tracking device for the package from her rucksack along with a bottle of treated water. She tapped the screen once, causing it to come to life, a detailed digital map of the area quickly forming across it, before uncapping the bottle and taking a gulp, careful not to drink too much. The other two rabbits huddled around to catch a glimpse, both of them having a drink as well, as their objective showed up in the form of a blinking red dot slightly away from blue dot that read "current position". Under the red dot was small text that Amber had to squint in order to see that they read "Project Nephilim".

_Guess Chesire's little Christmas list has a name after all._

"It's not too far from here. Just through that mall on the left and down the street, assuming the geography is still the same." Ezreal noted. Just then, they all heard an earth-shaking crash from across the clearing. Literally earth-shaking, as they felt the tremor right after. The three friends looked up to see dust and dirt being thrown into the air as an old office building cratered into the ground, its metal supports either giving in to the elements or something strong enough to make them snap. A roar, so unnatural yet at the same time so primal, like a bat's screech, wolf's howl and an elephants trumpet melded together like a twisted symphony echoed through the air from the same direction making the three decide on the latter.

"This just keeps getting better and better." Amber grimaced while shoving the tracker into the pocket of her jacket for easier access before zipping it up, just to be safe. She replaced the cap on the bottle before dumping it back into her backpack. The front entrance of the shopping mall was completely demolished and blocked off by rubble, so they had to climb the piles of debris to the second floor and climb through one of the stained glass windows that had once been an artistic marvel but now the few shards of glass that still remained were truly stained with dirt and dust.

Once inside, they saw that the mall was in terrible shape, having looked like a stampede of elephants decided to have a rave in it. Given the state of the world, it was probably not far from the truth. The second floor had once simply been a large walkway that went along the walls of the building, leaving the middle an open space between the ground floor and skylight. Now, half of the second floor had completely collapsed, leaving metal beams sticking out of the walls and the rest of the floor highly unstable, most of the building shrouded in light shadow save for the limited rays of light seeping in through the parts of the skylight that were either broken or not covered in a meter high layer of dust.

Ezreal stepped ahead of the girls, scanning the area with his rifle, seeing as he had the best eyes and the most ammo. Satisfied that whatever action had gone down here he raised his fingers and gestured forward, signaling to move on. Both Marcy and Amber pulled out flashlights from the pockets of their backpacks and illuminated the way forward as Ezreal hit the on button on his own rifle-mounted one.

"Let's make this quick. Price of batteries are getting outrageous." Marcy complained in an annoyed voice.

"Jerry charged me 4 .308s for the last two I bought. And he said it was a steal, too." Amber agreed.

"Ladies, this is why you invest in solar-powered devices. Saves you money, AND it's good for the environment as well." Ezreal chuckled. Both the girls flicked him in the back of the head causing him to yelp and whirl around with an annoyed look.

"The hell was that for?"

"First of, you didn't invest in anything, you STOLE that from the Order!"

"And secondly, if I had the money for it, I could've bought 4 houses for Ana and me."

Ezreal rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, yeah, point taken."

One might ask why they did not just use Ezreal's flashlight and conserve the batteries on the other two. Well, having only one line of sight in the dark at any given time is never a good thing. The three pressed forward in a pyramid formation, careful not to leave any blind spots exposed for too long and constantly checking their surroundings. The little sunlight that did manage to get in helped a little but the sun was no longer positioned directly overhead so it did not help too much.

True to what they had heard, the area was clear of any infected or monsters, not even a single stray zombie. Despite this, the trio remained cautious and did not lower their guard. Regardless, their little adventure through the shopping mall was rather uneventful, save for when Amber had to drag a pouting and complaining Marcy away from a somehow perfectly preserved display case housing a majestic white gown.

"Unhand me you fiend! Don't you see! It's crying out for it's one true owner, me!"

"I'll make you cry out for your one true maker, you dunce. Are you forgetting where we are?"

Ezreal simply watched them with an embarrassed smile while chuckling and running his hand through short and messy chocolate hair. Despite having to do some climbing and being careful around loose pieces of debris, they reached the other side of the mall relatively quickly, relieved to find that it was not nearly as derelict as the side they had entered from. The exit was in decent shape, however, they did have to break open a glass window to get out due to an old container truck blocking the doors.

Once on the street, Amber pulled out the tracker once more. Most of the road was littered with abandoned vehicles, thus making it hard to see past in the direction of where they needed to go. Marcy climbed on top of the container truck to get a better view, reporting that an entire section of the road had collapsed into the sewers. The other two climbed up to see as well, causing Amber to groan in annoyance when she realized that the collapse was exactly where the screen said to go.

"Great. Guess we're getting wet. I ever tell you guys how much I hate the sewers?"

"Yeah, that one time you ran into that giant roach right?" Ezreal teased. Amber shuddered and shook herself.

"Urgh, don't remind me. God I hate bugs." She jumped off the truck as she finished her sentence, pulling her rifle over her shoulder and into her arms. She checked to make sure that she had a round chambered. If there was anything with more than six legs down there, she did not care how much it would cost, she wanted it dead before it got within 20 meters of her. Marcy exchanged a look with Ezreal, who shrugged, before she jumped down as well, following her best friend.

The three carefully waded through the sea of ruined cars in their pyramid formation, their senses in overdrive. All three of them knew all too well just how easy it was to set up an ambush in a place like this, with possible sniper positions everywhere with all the half collapsed buildings and a million vehicles to hide behind, awaiting an unsuspecting victim to pass by.

As they reached the crater, all three took a good long look at the hell-hole they were about to enter. The pit was approximately circular, with a 20 meter radius, dozens of wrecked cars piled over one another. There was a tunnel on two sides of its walls, indicating the sewer network that the street had collapsed on. The walls were lined with slick mud that had once been the earth foundation under the city, now a slippery sinkhole caused by years of rain, unattended sewage water and neglect. Near the center, there were the charred remains of a car and what looked like 2 darkened human bodies, burnt to a crisp. They could not make it out too clearly, but there seemed to be several similarly burnt long strips of…. something…. around the two dead bodies. In addition, several of the surrounding debris and crushed vehicles had burn marks on them as well.

"Looks like the ground was eroded and unstable to begin with. That explosion just caused it to finally give way." Ezreal noted, running his finger against the wet dirt under the splintered asphalt.

"Doesn't matter now. What matters is that what we're looking for is somewhere down there." Amber said, a little too insensitively, while looking at the tracker again. She stared at the red blinking dot, sliding her fingers to zoom in, before carefully scanning the pit.

"That black overturned van, by the broken pipe." In a relatively clear part of the pit, an unmarked black van, similar to those used to deliver mail in the old world, lay on its side, the metal on its front twisted and crushed beyond recognition. Ezreal reached into his pack, pulling out some hiking grade climbing rope, before tying it around the firmest looking metal beam he could find. He pulled on it, satisfied when it proved to be firm before throwing the other end into the pit. The three rabbits carefully descended into the abyss, careful not to slip on the mud or any loose rocks.

Keeping a close eye on the two tunnel entrances, worried that a swarm of monstrosities might stream out at any moment, the rabbits crossed the pit, climbing over mountains of ruined metal. Upon finally reaching their target, they saw that there seemed to be dents on the sides of the van, looking like something had rammed it. Marcy took a look at the sky.

"We better hurry up, we still have the return trip to make and we have maybe 2 hours of daylight left."

"We might have to make camp somewhere, and go back tomorrow. We have no idea how big this package is going to be." Ezreal noted, furrowing his brow in concern. None of them fancied the idea of being caught out in the Ruins at night.

While Marcy and Amber went around the back, Ezreal checked the front, grimacing at what he found. A dismembered arm was impaled on the broken windshield, with crimson blood splattered everywhere inside the cab and bits of torn flesh scattered everywhere. The former B-Rank Knight noticed that there were torn bloody ribbons stuck on the edges of the broken glass of the window, signifying that the driver had been ripped out of their seat by…. something.

"Found the remains of our driver! From the look of it, blood doesn't look all that dry. Maybe 3 or 4 days. Looks like they crashed in here after the hole was made."

Amber and Marcy found that the back doors were open, interestingly; the dent seemed to indicate that it had been opened from the inside. Amber climbed in first, pulling out her flashlight once again and taking in the interior. Papers and files that were no longer legible littered the floor, or rather wall of the van but the most noticeable object was a relatively large capsule attached to the wall, connected to a few dead screens, save for one with the flickering green letters that said, "Containment Failure".

"Holy shit…" Amber heard Marcy breathe behind her.

"That capsule looks big enough to hold something the size of a golden retriever. Containment failure? Chesire, that bastard, he sent us to pick up a fucking genetic experiment." Amber swore.

_How the hell are we supposed to bring back what's probably some lab-grown monster?_

"Let's just see what it is before we decide what to do, yeah?" Marcy tried to calm her friend, despite feeling similar herself. Amber sighed, nodding before stepping in front of the capsule. Marcy pulled out her revolver, before nodding at her best friend. Amber nodded back before finding a button with the word "open" above it. Marcy held her revolver at the ready, ready to blast whatever was inside if it tried to attack, while Amber set her rifle down and pulled out her own sidearm. She silently counted down before hitting the button and pulling up her gun as fast as she could, managing to aim it right as the capsule opened. A white mist, not dissimilar to dropping dry ice in water flowed out of the capsule, shrouding its contents. The wait was nerve wrecking, as the two girls waited for the mist to clear, not moving an inch.

However, when they could finally see inside, there was only a clear-looking liquid filling half of the capsule with a tube that looked to be meant for oxygen floating in it. The girls' initial relief was soon shattered when it dawned on them what that meant.

"_You pick up my package and come back, or you don't pick it up and you better not come back at all."_

The words echoed through Amber's head as she shared a look of dread with Marcy. The both of them stepped out of the van, desperately trying to think of a solution to the problem when Ezreal came looking for them.

"What's going on? Did you get it?"

"There's nothing in there Ez. Just an empty capsule."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"What does it sound like?! Whatever Chesire sent us here to pick up, it's not here anymore! What the hell are we supposed to tell that lunatic?" Amber's voice was almost a shriek, the barely contained panic dripping from it. Ezreal looked at Marcy who shrugged and nodded grimly. He was about to try and calm Amber down when he was rudely interrupted by a loud voice emitting from the top of the pit from where they came.

"You there! This is Knight Thanley of the Order! What the hell are you doing in this restricted area?"

**Okay, derp derp, I actually wanted to keep going from here, but I didn't want to cram too much into 1 chapter so I'll save the rest for the next chapter. Don't worry though, what I had thought of is enough to fill an entire chapter so it probably won't take too long to write. Urm I'm having a headache right now, so I'll respond to the reviews next chapter, and I'll also explain why this story has been on hiatus for so long so till then, matane**


	6. Chapter 4: It All Goes South

**Note: Quick story before we start, do you know that Kirieu is capable of listening to the same song on loop for half an hour before realizing that she's been listening to the same song over and over? -.- Also idk why the bold letters and underlines didn't show up in the last chapter so I'm just gonna indicate whenever I end a note now. Oh yeah, for all OCs whose creators only gave them sidearms or secondary melee weapons (like a knife or smt, swords/katanas/anything that would typically count as a primary weapon is fine), I'm giving all of them a primary firearm cos hunting mutants with just sidearms isn't really a good idea. Trust me, I tried going deathclaw hunting with just a desert eagle in fallout once. My tears still stain my keyboard. End Note.**

All three rabbits froze, their eyes shooting straight in the direction of the voice, their hands instinctively shooting to their weapons but not drawing them quite yet, so as not to come off as hostile.

They were a fair distance away from the source of the voice, but Amber's trained eyes were able to make out an athletic male form and…. Asian features? The Knight, Thanley, had a rifle, an M16A4 it seemed, trained on the three but he did not seem particularly eager to fire. Without taking his eye off them, he called out for someone named Wyatt the rabbits assumed was his teammate.

"Wyatt! I got three civis here! They look like Rabbits, call it in and ask for instructions!"

"Fucking hell, if we get caught, we'll get put away for sure." Ezreal swore, something that was rare from him.

"Kinda beats having to try and explain going back empty handed to Chesire though." Amber joked dryly, more so to calm herself than anything else. God knew what that lunatic would do to them when he found out that they'd failed. The blood drained from her face when she realized that he could hurt Adriana as punishment for her failure.

"Tempting, but I'd rather not spend the rest of my life behind bars, thank you very much. That being said, I'd rather not get in a fight with the Order either."

"So what do we do?" Marcy inquired, looking more than a little distressed. Amber scanned the environment, looking for some way to escape. There was the sewer network but after having seen the Hydra in that canal earlier that day, she was not entirely keen on traversing the city's literal underworld.

They heard more shouts, indicating the arrival of more Knights, leaving them with no other option.

"Ez, what are the chances of them shooting to kill us?"

"Standard procedure is not to harm civilians unless in self defense. But out here, it depends on who you run into."

"I don't suppose you happen to know this Thanley guy?"

"There are a lot of people in the Order, Amber. I've never heard his name before."

_Great. Another unknown factor._

Amber bit her lip, desperately trying to come up with a better plan, knowing that the sand in the hourglass was running out.

_Aww hell, we don't have a choice._

She lowered her voice to a whisper, paranoid that a Knight might have gotten close enough to overhear.

"We're gonna take a gamble. We make a break for the sewer and try to lose them in the network. There's a 50-50 chance they won't shoot to kill us if we don't shoot at them first."

"50-50 isn't exactly overwhelmingly good odds, Amy."

"You rather a 100% chance of sitting in a cell for the next 10 years?"

Marcy's eyes widened at the thought and her reservations were immediately swept away. Ezreal cursed once more before nodding. Amber nodded back and raised three fingers, slowly counting down.

"3, 2, RUN!"

The three rabbits shot off, all three adept at running from years of practice. They ran in a zig zag, just in case the Knights happened to be trigger happy but their luck seemed to hold out. A few loud voices, Thanley's and a few others, rang out, ordering them to stop and their voices echoing off the muddy walls of the pit. None of the rabbits risked a look behind, the maze of debris and ruined vehicles requiring their full attention as they ran as fast as they could.

The distance closed blindingly fast, as they pulled out their flashlights and illuminated the path without stopping, heavy bootfall resonating through the tunnel splitting the deafening silence and drowning out their heavy pants. They had made it about a quarter mile into the maze network, taking turns where they thought might lead to an exit when they started hearing the sounds of boots that did not belong to them.

"We don't have much time before they get people stationed at the exits. We need to get out fa-" Amber's voice was cut off by the horrific sound of slipping and a sharp scream followed by a splash and sliding. Amber felt the ground disappear from under her as her vision flew to the ceiling and she started plunging into an abyss, the cries of her friends along with the light from their flashlights drew further and further away. She tried to take note of any turns she made during her fall but all she could tell was that the small drain she'd fallen in had numerous branches, each leading to a different part of the labyrinth. After an eternity of falling, there was finally a loud splash as she hit water that was not quite deep enough to cushion the impact, causing her to cry out in pain as her shoulder slammed into the filthy ground under the nasty liquid.

Amber might have grimaced in disgust were it not for the searing pain in her shoulder. Fearing the worst, she ran her good hand over it, wincing once more as the bruised skin stung at her touch. Fortunately, the bone seemed to be intact and the extent of the damage seemed to end at a bad bruise. It would hurt like hell but it probably would not impair her too much. All the same, she tenderly nursed the shoulder with her free arm after picking up her rifle and slinging it over her good shoulder as she got to her feet. Shaking her disorientation away, she started hearing her name echoing distantly through the tunnels from the way she came.

"AMY! AMY! Oh god, please answer me! AMBER!" Marcy's hysterical screams bounced off the walls down the drain and assaulted her ears, adding to Amber's already growing headache.

She opened her mouth to answer only to cough uncontrollably as she struggled to catch her breath.

"I'm ***cough*** here!" It came out as a raspy whisper, but the tight walls of the sewers managed to carry her echo to her friends.

"Amber? Oh thank god! Ana would've killed me if you died. Stay right there, we're coming down after you!"

"Don't! The tunnel branches multiple ways! You'll end up somewhere else!" Amber desperately tried to think of a way out of this mess but somehow, her immediate safety seemed to constantly slip through her mind's grasp, instead, she could not stop thinking of what would happen to Adriana if she did not return. She raced through her options, trying to find a way to guarantee her sister's safety but the more she thought of it, the more she realized that there was nowhere in the city outside of Chesire's grasp.

"Fuck!" She slammed her good fist into the wall in frustration.

_The only place where she would be safe would be if she were with the Order. _She thought sarcastically before blinking, her expression suddenly lighting up.

"The Order…"

"Marcy! Ez! Get back to the city ahead of me! Use the breach near my place and I'll meet you guys there! But if I'm not back in 3 hours, promise you'll take Ana to Alex Evans, he usually patrols the marketplace looking for me."

Alex was a lot of things, but she knew he was a good guy at heart. Plus, he had Knight authority. He could and would protect Adriana from Chesire.

"What the fuck are you talking about? You're coming back with us!"

"And the Order? You want to hand your sister over to those people?" Ezreal's voice went up a pitch, the distrust and contempt dripping from his words.

"Please! Please just do it!" Amber's voice must have held enough desperation because it silenced any argument that her friends had prepared. There was an excruciating pause before Marcy's reply came, her voice unnaturally calm, a clear indication of her barely suppressed panic.

"Alright. But you better come back, Amy. I won't forgive you if you make me have to tell your sister she won't see you again. Fuck that." Amber heard distant splashing footsteps before she could reply, indicating that her friends had left. She breathed a heavy sigh before muttering under her breath.

"Thank you so much."

Turning around, she felt her way along the wall with the hand attached to her injured arm, careful not to move the shoulder itself. She had lost her flashlight at some point during her fall so she was stuck in the thick abyssal darkness with zero use of her eyes. Her only option was to follow the sound of flowing water, hoping that the water would lead out into a canal.

Her vision was not the only thing impaired by the darkness. Amber had completely lost track of how long she had been in the tunnel. Each step seemed to last over an hour and she was starting to panic at the possibility that she might not even be able to spot an exit if the daylight had burned out.

_Never mind a way out, there could be some giant bug running straight at me looking for a meal and I wouldn't even see it coming._

Amber was still fruitlessly trying to shake the images of worse case scenarios from her head when she felt a turn and decided to take it. However, right as she turned the corner, her blood froze as she heard a splash right behind her. Her good hand instinctively flew to her handgun, fumbling with the holster's buckle before drawing it in a panicky movement, her finger squeezing the trigger, causing the entire tunnel to explode in a flash of light and the sound of the gunshot bounced off the concrete walls, causing her ears to ring. She ignored the sudden impairment to her hearing and pounding pain in her head, keeping her gun trained when she heard an extremely girlish cry.

"EEEEKKKK! GOMENASAI, GOMENASAI, GOMENASAI! Please don't hurt me! GOMENASAI!" The voice was melodious and high-pitched, almost childlike despite being riddled in panic as it continued chanting that familiar phrase.

_Gomenasai? Doesn't that mean "I'm sorry"?_

Amber's jaw dropped slightly as she stuttered a little when she found that she could actually _see _the source of the voice.

"Wha- what?"

Floating in air in front of her like a spectral entity was a mane of snow white hair, the color of winter itself, with a pair of impossibly pale, delicate and dainty looking trembling hands pressed on top of it. The figure carefully looked up at her, her hands falling to her forehead, revealing a terrified little face the same ghostly white as the hands. A girl, no older than herself and perhaps even younger, with features that could only be described as that of a goddess stood before her reflecting every bit of what meager light managed to find its way into the labyrinth making it seem like a soft glow emanated from her whiter than white skin. The curtain of pure white hair flowed like water down to her waist, messy yet managing to be straight at the same time with long messy bangs playing around her pale, pink-rimmed grey eyes while framing the sides of her face down to slightly below her chin. The girl wore a torn and ragged black hoodie, a few sizes too big for her, along with an old pair of cargo shorts.

"Who are you? What the fuck are you doing in the sewers?" Amber whispered sharply in the firmest and most aggressive voice she could master.

The girl's face morphed into an expression that retained her fear but mixed with confusion, either not daring to speak or simply unable to. Getting impatient, Amber snapped at her once more, not once pointing her Glock 17 away from the spectral albino girl.

"Hey! I asked wh-"

Her words were interrupted by the sound of boots splashing into the ancient sewage sludge as the beams of flashlights started swinging around in the darkness from the passage around the corner, rapidly coming closer.

"I heard it! This way!" Thinking fast, Amber desperately felt around for a hiding place, putting almost all her willpower into keeping herself from cursing out loud. By sheer luck, a miniscule fleck of light reflected off the wet walls, partially revealing a small drain under the pathway.

"Um, I- hngghmmpphh" A slender hand instantly flew over the albino girl's mouth, cutting off whatever she was about to say before Amber pulled her into the filthy, only partially liquid, water, quickly sliding into the small drain legs first right as 3 Order Knights rushed around the corner flying past them down the passage that Amber had come. Amber struggled to control her disgust, having most of her body covered in years worth of waste, human or otherwise, as she held her hand over the albino girl's mouth. It was lucky that she was tiny. That, coupled with Amber's own slightly below average stature had allowed them to barely squeeze into the tiny hiding spot. Amber closed her eyes and pursed her lips as the boots fly past, causing splashes of filthy liquid to cover her face, hoping to god none of the vile stuff entered her mouth.

As the splashing grew more and more distant, Amber finally noticed the muffled groans of the girl she had gagged with her hand right before she felt a sharp pain between her thumb and index finger as the albino girl bit her. Amber instinctively released her mouse causing her to gasp for air, while Amber bit down hard on her lip to keep her from crying out in pain. They both crawled out quickly, the albino girl quickly scrambling against a wall away from her, watching her fearfully.

"That hurt!" Amber hissed quietly, as the girl yelped softly in surprise, covering her face with her hands once more.

"Gome-"

"Alright, alright, whatever. I don't know what you're doing down here but that's not my problem. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get out of here before I get put away for life." Amber turned and started down the passage that the Knights had come from, not waiting for an answer or even caring if the girl even understood her. Feeling her way down the passage, she started feeling for a corner along the wall while she tried to feel for a breeze from the outside when she heard a soft whisper behind her.

"Th-this w-w-way…" Recognizing the voice, Amber turned around in shock, finding the ghostly girl behind her, her expression while still slightly cautious, had lost most of its fear, replaced instead by something reminiscent of shyness.

_How did she follow me without making a sound?_

"Whatcha say?"

"Th-the exit…. It's th-this way….." She was pointing into the pitch black darkness directly right of her and Amber could not see anything apart from her form. Slowly stepping towards her, careful not to trip, Amber started slightly when the girl slowly raised her hand towards her, opening her palm in the unmistakable gesture to take her hand. Hesitating for a moment, Amber finally slowly took it, after considering her options. Amber was extremely skeptical, but it was the only lead she had. Instead of wandering around in the dark alone until she starved to death, she might as well wander around with a strange albino girl who could have very well been a figment of her imagination. The girl turned, gently leading Amber down a passage that she had not even realized was there. She became eerily aware that the girl's footsteps were almost completely silent, only tiny splashes that were easily drowned out by her own. Amber prided herself in being able to move quietly but she might as well have been a rampaging rhino on its period next to Miss Mystery.

"So what's your name?"

"Wh-what?"

"Your name. Mine's Amber, Amber O'Hara." Generally using your real name in the wasteland tended to be a bad idea but at the moment, Amber either simply felt that this girl was her only hope or had lost all hope that she simply did not care.

"Name…." Silence broken only by the splashes of their steps followed after as Amber waited in anticipation before realizing that she was not getting a response.

"Okay…. Whatever, you don't wanna tell me your name." Amber pouted and looked away, even though the girl should not have been able to see her anyway. However, she saw that the girl had turned to her and was giving a slightly apologetic look. A shiver found its way down her spine when she had the strongest feeling that the girl was staring straight into her eyes in the pitch darkness. Without warning, the girl turned back ahead of her and continued leading the way.

Amber had no way of telling where they were going and did not even know if they were turning or moving straight but the girl seemed to know exactly where she was going, seeming to both know the tunnels like the back of her hand as well as being able to actually see where she was going.

"Cae… li…"

"Say what now?" Amber's darkness induced trance was broken by the soft voice.

"Cae… li… Caeli… Caeli Rika." The name of this mysterious girl was revealed in the ghost of a whisper as Caeli shyly turned her grey eyes towards her.

Unsure of how to react, Amber simply nodded somehow knowing that Caeli was able to see her, a theory proved correct when the small girl turned back right after. Amber continued to be lost in time, not knowing if hours or minutes had passed as she found herself thinking of how Caeli Rika was a strange yet nice name, when suddenly, Caeli was not the only thing that she could see.

Amber blinked, making sure that she was not hallucinating. Slowly but surely, the grime-covered walls of the sewer slowly became visible to her, along with the dark liquid she had been sloshing around in for hours.

"Holy shit…"

Amber picked up the pace before breaking into a full run, unable to contain her excitement. Caeli was caught off guard at first but gracefully recovered and kept pace with Amber, but now following instead of leading. Amber let out a soft sob when she saw the opening, unable to contain her emotions and having been prepared to die in that hole. Breaking out into the cityscape once more, the first thing Amber noticed was that the sun had almost completely set, and darkness was setting in, casting all kinds of strange and sinister shadows from the skeletons of skyscrapers.

Letting go of Caeli's hand, Amber covered her mouth, trying to prevent herself from breaking down in relief, taking in her surroundings. They had exited into an algae-covered canal where the elements had taken their toll with a few wrecked cars lying in it, having fallen from the roads above eons ago. Decayed remains of their former owners still remained where they had died and some of them were still moving causing a pang of pity to surge interrupt her relief. Amber wanted to individually end all of their suffering as a mercy but at she did not have the time, so she settled with a resolution to come around to it should she ever find herself in the area again. Speaking of which, she tried to spot out landmarks to determine where exactly she was, but she would have to get to street level to see anything worthwhile.

She was about to call for Caeli again when she stepped in something that crunched and squelched under her boot. Looking down, Amber almost gagged in disgust, covering her mouth once more at the revolting sight. Her sense of smell having been bleached from the stench of the sewers, she had not noticed the smell of the half-eaten, sun-baked and rotten corpse of god-knows what which decayed flesh looked almost alive due to the swarm of maggots half burrowed into it. Large chunks of meat were missing from the rest of the mutilated hunk with bite marks that looked almost like those of a crocodile that she had seen on television a life time ago.

_Crocodile… Wait a minute, isn't this-_

Amber's hazel eyes flew wide open as she gasped in the realization of where they were.

"Caeli!" Spinning around to grab the small albino girl, she took two steps before noticing that Caeli was staring at something above the tunnel opening. Amber's gaze slowly rose in trepidation, her pulse racing far too fast as she fought the urge to book it and simply abandon the girl who had saved her, as she tracked Caeli's gaze to find a hulking for perched like a gorilla on the bridge above watching them quietly, its yellow, slit-pupil eyes filled with hatred. It mostly resembled a crocodile with copperish scales, if crocodiles had massive arms like a gorilla tipped with impossibly long and razor sharp talons that made her own knife look like a play toy. Its legs were reminiscent of a dinosaur, built extremely muscularly with toes lined with claws similar to its talons but smaller, while a plated crocodile's tail curled around it to sit over the ledge. Its back was lined with needle-like quills, with a large tuft of silver fur, stained like rust from dried blood leading to a muscular neck that supported a scarred crocodile's head three times the size of any natural crocodile she had ever seen. The creature was easily the size of an elephant, at least, perhaps bigger.

For a moment, both sides simply stared at one another, awaiting a sudden move, when Amber started slowly edging towards Caeli, who stood paralyzed at the sight of the monster. As she reached the smaller girl, the creature started to stir, moving its tail up as its back legs started moving causing Amber to determine that time was up and they had to get the hell out of there. Amber grabbed Caeli by the arm and started running away, not waiting to see if Caeli was running as well or simply getting dragged by her after an extremely motivational ear-splitting roar, courtesy your friendly neighborhood Crocorilla. In the years that Amber had spent as a rabbit, not once had she ever heard something quite as terrifying.

_Or hungry._

Risking a look behind her, she caught the Crocorilla leaping into the canal, before letting out another roar sounding like a car-crusher being played through a fog horn before bounding after them. Caeli had started running as well and looked at her fearfully, her wide grey eyes almost wet with tears as they asked an unspoken question. It was then that Amber realized that the girl was completely bare-footed, her pale white feet blackened by layers of crap, soot and dirt. Whirling back to look in front of her, Amber's eyes desperately searched for a way out of the deathtrap, knowing there was no way in hell they could outrun the rampaging monster behind them. Noticing a few cars that were piled atop another, she quickly steered them in that direction, reaching it in seconds before helping Caeli up the cars and checking behind them to see that the Crocorilla had almost reached them. Climbing up herself, she backed herself against the canal wall, putting her palms out and shouting over the sound of a train of death heading their way.

"Jump!" Caeli understood straight away and leapt forward, her feet planting gracefully on Amber's hands before smoothly vaulting up onto the pavement in the hole in the fence caused by cars tearing through it. She turned around and crouched down shouting for Amber to grab her hand but it was too late. The creature crashed into the pile of cars, causing it to collapse, taking Amber with it, her sharp scream piercing the air. She managed to land on her palms and looked behind her before rolling away just in time as the Crocozilla sank its talons into the concrete where she had been a fraction of a second ago, cutting into it like a hot knife through butter. Amber swiftly rolled into a crouch, firing 4 bullets into the creature's arm, the bullets not penetrating the thick scales, before sidestepping to her left, just barely dodging its second swipe. She was vaguely aware of Caeli screaming her name but all her attention was focused on simply staying alive. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that the creature had buried both its hands into the concrete and was trying to get them out. Exploiting the one-off chance, she ran around to its side, jumping as high as she could towards it kicking against its ribs twice and vaulted up towards the pavement where Caeli caught her hand while holding onto a torn piece of fencing.

Amber pulled herself up not a moment too soon as the creature freed itself to claw at her once more, the strike landing the edge of the pavement as the two started running away. Amber quickly looked around, looking for the way back to Oasis but she was too panicky to remember the path so instead, they ran into an alleyway, motivated but the sounds of the Crocorilla clawing its way onto the street to hunt them down. Noticing a stinging pain on her arm, Amber looked down, realizing that the creature had managed to graze her arm, causing a long bleeding cut stretching halfway down her bicep under her torn sleeve. They darted through a series of alleyways trying to confuse the monster but it must have been following the scent of Amber's blood, tracking them like a lazer and smashing through dilapidated buildings to chase them.

"Fuck!" Amber swore as they duck into the backdoor of a ruined Laundromat, catching their breath. She looked and the panting albino girl behind her as she stared back the way they came. She noticed then that Caeli had a long scar running from the back of her ear carving uglily to what seemed to be the base of her skull.

"It's tracking the smell of my blood. Fucking thing like some freakshow blood hound." Caeli simply nodded, not saying a word. Amber froze as a thought entered her mind.

_She knew._

Amber realized that Caeli knew all along how the monster was following them but had not said a word. She had always had trust issues and could never truly trust anyone she did not know well but she had unwittingly trusted this freakishly pale girl wholeheartedly the entire time. Caeli could have betrayed her at any time, using her as bait to get away from the beast but they'd covered a good three city blocks and not once was her trust broken. Rather, it seemed that the thought of betrayal had not even crossed Caeli's mind.

_Well ain't this a pickle. You find probably the most decent and innocent person you've seen in god knows how long, and she's going to die because you're pretty much a dinner bell standing next to her._

"Caeli." The albino girl turned around, her expression alert, yet not quite as scared as she had been in their first meeting.

"Listen carefully. You stay here while I draw that thing away. Then you get as far away from here as possible."

"What?! No! We'll get out together! I won't leave you!" The girl screamed, this time not a single stutter in her words as her eyes went wide with innocent shock. It almost broke Amber's heart how sweet the girl was even though they had just met, thus strengthening her resolve.

"Hey, I'll be fine. Back at Oasis, they call me Shadow, you know why? It's cos if I don't wanna be found, I disappear into the dark, just like a shadow. But I can't do it with you with me." Amber gave the most reassuring smile she could muster.

"Oasis?"

"You don't- Never mind. Look, when you lose that thing, look for maps or signs or whatever and find your way to the museums. There's a whole new settlement there. It's not perfect, but it sure beats being stuck out here forever. Get there and I'll find you again sometime." Amber turned and unslung her rifle, making her way to the front lobby and hastening her pace, anxious that she might change her mind. She reached for the doorknob of the front door when a small whisper came from behind her.

"You're lying aren't you…" Amber simply stood there, staring at the doorknob, keeping her solemn silence for a moment before replying with a whisper of her own.

"I have a younger sister, and in some ways, you remind me a lot of her."

Without another word, Amber opened the door and closed it behind her before dashing off into the night. The moon had come up casting its light across the ruins of Washington D.C. Amber was thankful for the full moon making it bright enough to see relatively clearly even without her flashlight.

_Hmmm, this is so unlike you isn't it? That's twice today you've pretty much told someone to leave you behind to save themselves. Was there something weird in that bread?_

She had not made 30 meters before she heard the heavy footsteps of her pursuer once more, locked onto her like a guided missile. Amber turned around and fired 3 shots out of her SIG missing one shot and hitting it once in the head between its eyes and another in its thigh as the Crocorilla barreled after her, tossing aside abandoned cars like toys. Neither shot drew blood, the armor on the thing simply too thick to even bother, especially with her limited ammo supply. Amber started sprinting once more, knowing that the thing would be on her tearing her apart in seconds, and ducked into a wide alleyway and making it to the other side before the beast caught up to her. She turned the corner only to come face to face with the barrel of a rifle.

"Hold it right there!" A deep and commanding male yet calming voice with a Spanish accent called as Amber squeezed her eyes shut expecting a bullet to enter her brain. She slowly opened one eye to see a tall, muscular and well-toned form, towering over her at about 6'1 with his rifle, an M27 IAR, pointed straight at her face. Upon closer examination, Amber saw that the guy had short, spiky hair the color of pitch that stuck out from under his reversed blue baseball cap, shaved in a Faux Hawk on the sides and wore a full black outfit consisting of a zip-up jacket over a black fleece, BDU pants and combat boots. Amber noticed with a start that he wore a pair of dog tags around his neck, one engraved with the emblem of the Order and another with a heavily stylized letter "A".

"Urm.."

"Keeg! Lower your weapon!" A jolt of excitement erupted through her as she heard an all too familiar voice. In the corner of her eye, she saw the petite form of Jade Jones with the hood of her black hoodie up and her half-face gas mask around her neck, running towards them with an extremely large glossy black painted Barrett M82 Anti-Material Rifle looking extremely ridiculous in her arms, being almost as long as she was tall.

To her surprise, another familiar face was running next to her, carry a long and heavily built 3ft long rapier with a revolver attached to its underside, with a silver and ivory painted blade and a metallic grey hilt adorned with ebony and crimson accents making it look like it was forged with molten lava. Her heavily made-up face contorted in surprise along with widening her blazing orange eyes. Her extremely long electric blue hair flowed messily and freely to her thighs with only a small portion tied into a lop-sided ponytail on the right side of her head with her messy and uneven bangs falling to the top of her eyes, a stark contrast the far shorter woman next to her by almost a full foot with her jet black hair tied tightly into a high ponytail . Barbie Kutcher, or better known as "Barb" to Amber wore an eye-catching outfit in the form of a full-sleeved white shirt with black sleeves that covered half of her 5'8'' body with a red tie, pleated black skirt, exceedingly conspicuous red and black stripped thigh-highs and white platform sneakers with black laces.

Barb was a friend that Amber had met when she regularly bought make-up that Amber found in her time outside. She was lucky that she had met Barb early in her career as a rabbit when she took everything she could get to sell, not realizing that things like make-up were not in high demand these days for obvious reasons. Barb was the only one who would buy make up and since, Amber would scavenge make-up especially for her friend and only customer for the item.

"Amber?" Both older women asked in disbelief simultaneously, outrageously making Amber want to laugh somewhat at how similar both of them sounded as while Barb had a slightly husky voice as opposed to Jade's higher pitch, both of them had a high-pitched immature ring to it.

"Urm, hi Jade, Barb. Fancy meeting you guys out here." Amber shifted awkwardly, evidently uncomfortable with a rifle still pointed at her face.

"What are you doing out here?" They echoed each other once again, this time causing the both of them to glare at each other.

"Quit parroting me, bitch." The echo once again.

"Urm, there's a-" Amber was interrupted by the man holding her at gunpoint.

"You two know this girl?"

"Well, no shit, Sherlock, she's a friend. And get that gun out of her face, Keegan." Both women snapped at the male Knight, Keegan, who did not waver.

"This is nice and all but I was being-" Amber was interrupted once again.

"It's pretty obvious she's a rabbit, in other words, a criminal? Let's ignore that you pretty much just admitted to associating with a criminal, but now you're asking me to let her go just like that? And don't forget who team leader is."

"Urm, guys-"

"Well, then "Glorious Leader", ex-cuh-uuusssseee me, but shove that-" This time Amber interrupted Barb by raising her voice.

"Guys! There's a huge crocodile gorilla thing right behind me!"

"What?" All three A-Rank Knights turned towards her in disbelief right as a massive form burst out of the alleyway roaring. Amber ducked under the gun as Keegan raised his rifle and fired off a few bursts from his 100-round drum magazine, but every shot bounced off the creature's thick armor. The humans started moving back as Barb fired shots from at the creature as well while Jade tried to raise her rifle. There was little doubt that the .50Cal bullet from her rifle would be able to tear through that armor but the heavy weight of the weapon caused her to move slower than the rest and the Crocorilla took a swipe at its nearest target. Jade jumped back with reflexes worthy of an A-Rank Knight but couldn't keep her rifle from being sent flying a few yards away, behind it. Recovering quickly, she deftly drew both of her B92s and joined her team in their onslaught of bullets.

No bullets penetrated the creature but they slowed it down as it raised its arms to cover its eyes and neck, while the 3 A-Rankers spread out with the two women taking its flanks all the while maintaining a perfect triangle between them even as Jade moved to retrieve her rifle, and not once was the suppressive fire lifted.

As Amber watched, she saw that the bullets were suddenly being concentrated on the monster's face, specifically aimed right at its eyes. Each member of the team had already determined that it must have been protecting its weak spot and so were setting up a cross-fire to keep it trapped before delivering a killing blow. Each time one of them had to reload, there was always a minimum of 2 of them still shooting to keep the pressure up and each reload took a fraction of a second. She had never seen A-Rankers fight before but now that she had, she finally knew what the rank meant. Despite how they might have seemed while interacting with one another, the coordination was flawless and on a level that Amber had never seen before.

Jade was about halfway to her rifle when a wall exploded next to Amber, as she barely dodged the debris from crushing her. Her rifle was not as lucky, as a metallic crunch was heard as a block of concrete twice as tall as her and about three times as wide toppled onto where she had dropped it. Coughing from the sudden bloom of dust, she squinted her eyes and saw a large shadow through the cloud as her eyes widened and she desperately tried to crawl away. A second Crocorilla, this one a dark forest green with spikes instead of the silver mane emerged from the newfound hole in the wall, stepping slowly towards it, like a cat playing with a cornered mouse. Amber fumbled with her handgun, barely able to keep it steady in her fear as she fired up into the new monster's face from the ground. With impossible speed, the creature raised its left hand to block all the shots until Amber's gun clicked empty before it raised the same claw in preparation to slice Amber to pieces. It took its time, as though savoring the expression of fear and despair on Amber's face as she realized that she was going to die and dropped the handgun, tears flowing from her eyes. Amber looked to the ongoing fight with the first Crocorilla and saw that all 3 Knights were too busy fighting the first one and could not come to save her. Amber closed her eyes as a sob escaped her throat.

_Oh god, I'm so sorry Ana, I love you._

The sound of claws slicing through wind was heard and Amber braced for her death, hoping it would be quick and painless. There was a sound of clashing metal before the creature roared in rage causing Amber to open her eyes, not quite realizing that she was not dead yet as she saw the creature throwing its head around and thrashing its body in all directions, as though searching for something around it. Amber gasped as she noticed that two of its fingers were missing and as she looked around, gaped in shock and awe as she found the two bloody dismembered digits lying to her left. She spotted a blur, approaching from one of the creature's blindside, moving almost too fast for her to track. All she saw was a flash of metal before something struck the armor on the Crocorilla's belly hard enough that sparks flew and a visible scratch and even a shallow cut in the armor appeared out of nowhere as the blur bolted away at lightning speed, almost like a ghost. The Crocozilla roared in pain, furiously searching for its attacker before the blur appeared once again, this time, going onto the creature's back and slicing downwards on its neck before it could even react, causing a deep and clean gash to explode in crimson blood as the creature cried out and pressed one clawed hand onto it as it moved backward in confusion and pain. Amber stared at her savior, a mix of awe and fear at the figure's ability to bring a Hydra to its knees so easily as the figure slowly stood up and looked at her.

"No way…"

A familiar face, not one she knew personally, but one that she had seen just that morning. The late-teened girl stood at an average height of 5'5'' with a thin build and surprising lack of any obvious muscles considering how she just cut through that Crocorilla's armor missing any obvious feminine curves. She wore simply a bulletproof vest over nothing that Amber could see, revealing a small portion o her midsection and torn faded slim-fit jeans with a pair of women's combat boots. Her dark hair completely covered the right side of her face and framed her delicate features with the rest of it tied in side ponytail high up on the left of her head and only emphasized her fair milky white skin, though nowhere near as pale as Caeli's and still looked healthy. In her fingerless gloved right hand, she held Japanese sword, a katana, adorned with ornamental designs, a Japanese engraving at the base of its blade and its metal almost the color of snow and reflected the moonlight like a beacon. A sheath for a large bowie knife was strapped to her left thigh while her other held a holstered handgun and a rifle that Amber could not see was slung on her back. It took Amber a moment to realize that Shiro was looking right at her causing her to gulp nervously, an action that did not go unnoticed. In response, Shiro simply smiled a small smirk, revealing one of her sharp canine teeth as an evening breeze blew causing her bangs to flow away from her face, revealing a long jagged scar that stretched from above her right eye to her cheek as well as a blind, pure white eyeball.

**Note: So, I went to Phuket in Thailand for holiday with my family and I was eating chocolate ice cream and guess what, I drowned it, yes, DROWNED, literally covered the whole thing in chocolate sauce AND sprinkled it with chocolate rice haha Oh, and something else that happened on holiday is that I was sleeping on a joined bed next to my brother, basically 2 single beds pressed up against each other, when he kept edging over to my side and taking up all my space but I simply kept moving to the edge not wanting to get up and yell at him. Then, god knows what he was dreaming, he moaned out in his sleep before wrapping his arms around me and grabbing my boobs. -.- Oh yeah, my Akame costume arrived so now all I have to do is collect my murasame from the police (it got impounded -.-) and at some point dye my hair back to black so I can cosplay haha In other news, I was considering releasing this chapter about halfway through but I wanted to cover all of this in one chapter so it probably ended up as the longest one ive ever written haha Okay, as promised, Ima explain why this story was on ice for so long. As you all know, I had depression for quite a while and its actually been around for much longer without me realizing and I'm actually still slowly recovering from it. That coupled with an insane work load in school really took a lot out of me. That being said, I'm seeing that a lot more characters will be introduced in the coming chapters now that we're kind of at the set-up arc. I'm honestly kind of disappointed with how the action sequences were penned down but I'm bad at writing fight scenes, only thing I'm good at is portraying emotions blargh so ima let it be. Well then, on to reviews!**

**Avis B: I've never seen NCIS hahaha I wanted to get the ball rolling to get to the parts that I really wanted to write from the start haha**

**Awesome D.T: I actually got the idea for the currency from Metro haha I've been looking through a lot of references to come up with different mutants and I'm quite satisfied with what I've found QwQ I really felt like I made Amber waaaaay too much like Katniss haha I knew there was something oddly familiar about her when I was creating her. I just wanted to try the idea of a character who usually chooses not to fight and is always on the run. I admit, World Trigger gave me a huge obsession with ranks hahaha S-Rank isn't really that sought after, because you're pretty much already pretty rich as an A-Rank that it's simply not really worth the risk of S-Rank even though the pay is much better since it's more than you can spend. Most people who choose S-Rank either just want to fight stronger enemies or want the status. Chuunibyou = Cool-sounding names come easily hahahahaha I think corruption and crime is a very real theme that adds a lot of tension and realism to any story being told, and its always fun to write about them :)**

**Gin-Ex-Machina: Yup yup yup, Kiyu is back! :D I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter :)**

**Radioactive Samurai: Well I'm not sure, do you think this chapter was short as well? ;P**

**Enarmonios: Yeah, I tend to incorporate a variety of the things that I indulge in into my fantasies so I usually have a mix-mash of many themes haha**

**ZorialWater: You bet on my life?! :O I mean urm, I would too BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT! *****pouts childishly***** Oh I wouldn't go that far as to say it's among the best…. *****mumbles and blushes***** fine I forgive you for betting on my life hehehehe You know your character is good when D.T. Senpai likes him/her ;D**


	7. Chapter 5: Nightfall

**Note: Hokay, at the time of writing this, I'm intending for this chapter to be relatively short just to keep the ball rolling haha After this chapter, I'm gonna work on my other story, All That We Are, for a bit before coming back to this one again but it's the last week of school before my 2 month vacation so if I can get of my lazy butt to write, HOPEFULLY I can pull out a few chapters during break haha Btw, like my female Kaneki cosplay? ^.^ My Nagisa costume should be arriving soon so im excited haha**

Shiro's smirk sent a shiver down Amber's spine, paling her face and causing her to almost forget everything that was happening around her. The dark-haired girl tilted her head and turned her eye to the thrashing beast behind her, casually twirling the blade in her hand as though she were facing down nothing more than a stray puppy, her pure bloodlust seemingly taking the form of a dark shadow around her. Amber shifted her gaze to the monster, noticing that although it had slowed the bleeding somewhat, the blood had completely coated its head and what seemed to be its collarbone, causing its red-dyed scales to seemingly flame up like magma as it roared furiously at the one that had caused it pain. Shiro only dropped her blade down to her hip and stood casual as ever while turning to face her adversary.

"Ehhh… The neck huh? You might wanna back up a little." The voice was a whisper but Amber could hear a kind of airiness, like the girl was in her own world, and a kind of sing-song kind of tone in Shiro's voice.

It took Amber a few blinks and moments to realize that Shiro was speaking to her and she scrambled backwards just as the crocorilla raised its claws above its head and sent them crashing down at unbelievable speed to cut Shiro into bloody ribbons. Amber barely caught the movement and all she saw was a faint blur as Shiro simply side-stepped the attack but in the same movement, had dove from her casual stance to lowering her body with her legs ready to pounce and had twirled her katana into a reverse grip. Not wasting a beat, she exploded forward, using the creature's arms as a platform to propel herself forward and using the momentum and force of her entire body, cut through half of the creature's neck like butter as its eyes widened in shock as Amber caught the ghost of a smile on the girl's lips. In a single fluid movement, Shiro released her grip on her katana and let it fall as she shot her now free arm out and caught hold on one of the crocorilla's horns and pulled, completely reversing her movement and at the same time, she caught the Katana with her other hand before once again using her full body's force to plunge the blade right into where the monster's spinal cord should be before jumping off its neck and cutting downwards.

Shiro casually walked away from the beast, towards Amber while wiping the blood off her blade on her jeans. The Crocorilla simply stood still for a moment, its eyes completely glazed over before its decapitated head slid off, landing on the ground with a gruesome squelch before its body collapsed to the side. Amber sat petrified in awe and fear, knowing full well she did not stand a ghost of a chance if Shiro turned her blade on her. However, the Knight girl now seemed to not even be aware of her presence, only turning her now bored gaze towards the other fight going on. Reminded that two of her friends were fighting as well, Amber looked to the other fight, right as Keegan finally drew blood on the other creature's neck.

"The neck!" He barked at Jade as she did a dolphin dive for her anti-material rifle, grabbing it as she landed before smoothly rolling into a crouched firing position with her right leg laying straight out while she sat on the ground and the other with her left knee raised as she rested the front of the rifle. She took about a second to steady her breath and take aim before firing a shot, the resounding boom sounded like two giant metal beams crashing together and it echoed off the derelict walls of fallen buildings. The creature turned its head a centimeter before the heavy bullet tore through its flesh. The angle of the shot had been perfect that the bullet traveled in and upwards arc, destroying just about everything in the creature's muscular neck before exploding out of its eye, a massive exit wound erupting from its face and took part of the creature's brain with it as the giant corpse fell snout first onto the ground.

With both battles finished, the A-Rank knights started scanning the area for any additional hostiles while making their way over. Shiro simply yawned and put the katana back in its sheath slung on her back. She turned her eye back to Amber who visibly flinched causing the other girl to snort before giving her an uncharacteristically sweet smile.

"What? It's the eye isn't it." As she spoke, she used her slender and surprisingly small fingers to push her long bangs away, revealing the long scar and blind eye once more before dropping her hair back into place. Amber wanted to point out that she was more unnerved by the fact that Shiro had just dominated a Hydra in less than a minute, and did it without breaking a sweat but chose to remain silent, not knowing where she stood with this, for the lack of a better term, monster. Shiro noted her silence and sighed, raising her hands in exasperation.

"Mataku…." Amber recognized the Japanese speech.

"Amy! You okay? You're bleeding!" Amber had been so captivated by the girl in front of her, she had not noticed her two A-Rank friends approach her. They both knelt on either side of her as Jade tenderly examined the long gash in her arm under the torn and ragged gash in her parka sleeve. Barbie dug into her pack for her first aid kit and surprisingly, the two were not at each other's throats. They might disagree on a lot of things but one thing they had in common, they both cared a lot for Amber, more than they would ever admit.

"Huh? Oh, that. Yeah, that thing nicked me while I was dodging it."

"Nothing serious but it's pretty deep and looks like the bleeding's been going on for a bit. We need to clean it before it gets infected. I don't even wanna know what was in those things' claws. I'd suggest cutting off the sleeve, but I know you're too cheapskate to get a new jacket so take it off." Amber snorted at the jab and carefully took off her parka, wincing a little at the pain in her arm. Before, the adrenalin rush had kept the pain at bay but now that she had calmed down, she was feeling the full force of it, and her arm felt like someone was pulling barbed wire inside it. Jade took a step back as Barbie took her place, setting the first aid pack next to her feet before pulling out a bottle of disinfectant. A male voice made a cough before he droned in a Spanish accent.

"Okay, don't dodge the issue here. Everyone here knows you're a Rabbit so please don't insult our intelligence by denying it." Jade turned to glare at her team leader and a scowl appeared on Barbie's face but she kept her focus on tending to Amber's wounds, causing her to bite down on her lip to choke a soft scream as the disinfectant touched her open wound and set it on fire.

"Are you serious, Keeg? Now?"

"Look, circumstances or not, fact is that she's breaking about a dozen laws just being outside the walls, never mind a restricted area. You can't just ask me to ignore that. Protocol dictates-"

"Oh protocol be damned. You're a fucking asshole, Keeg, you know that?" Barbie gave a silent nod of approval, finding something else that she and Jade agreed on. Keegan opened his mouth to shoot back, his expression fuming but he could not find the words. He turned to Shiro for backup only to find the girl humming and not even paying attention to the conversation. When she finally realized that her attention was required she looked slightly lost as she looked from Keegan to the three girls and back to Keegan once more.

"Hey, don't look at me. I'm just a chaperone for the mission, you're the mission leader."

"Really? You're an S-Rank, could you at least act professional?"

"Yeeeeeaaaahhh about that, most S-Ranks really don't do that professional thing. Sorry to burst your bubble." Keegan sighed exasperatedly, dropping his rifle to a loose one handed grip by his thigh and rubbing his temples with his spare hand.

He turned back to Amber who was still gritting her teeth against the sharp sting of the disinfectant doing its work. His expression turned slightly softer as he spoke in a firm yet more sensitive voice.

"Look, I really don't wanna be the bad guy here. I know Rabbits have reasons to do what they do. But the law is the law and I can't overlook it, I'm sorry." Jade stepped up to him and shoved him in the chest. By comparing their builds, it was obvious Jade wouldn't have been able to even make him budge but he took a step back anyway, returning his gaze to Jade's glare.

"And what the hell do I tell her sister? You arrest Amber, you know what MP will do her. Her sister is fucking 12, Keegan. Who the hell is going to take care of her?"

Amber's eyes widened at the mention of her sister as she let out a sharp gasp and had a minor panic attack.

"Oh my god, Ana!" Her expression turned desperate as she looked to the knights, suddenly remembering the danger Chesire posed to her sister. All eyes turned on her as she fumbled trying to explain but not knowing what to say. Barbie put a gentle hand on her cheek and averted her eyes to hers.

"What's wrong, Amy? What about Ana?"

"I-She-We-" She knew that she had asked Marcy and Ez to take Ana to Alex, but she did not know if they would be successful. She wanted to ensure her sister's safety herself, and let her know she was still alive.

"We were out here doing a job for Isaak Chesire."

"WHAT?!" All three A-Rank Knights' eyes widened in disbelief but Shiro looked confused.

"Jesus! What the hell were you thinking? Chesire? Fucking Chesire? You know the guy is fucking crazy!" Barbie suddenly looked furious and her grip on the tweezers holding the gauze tightened till her knuckles turned white.

"I know, I know! I didn't think it was a good idea too. But the pay… It was too good to pass up, I could have gotten Ana and myself out of the slums just with this job."

"God, you stupid- What then? What happened?" Jade looked as though she were deciding whether she should kill Amber herself for making the stupid decision.

"The thing was a bust. But Chesire doesn't accept failure. We go back empty handed…"

"He'll hunt down whoever was involved and their families…" Keegan finished quietly.

"I told my friends to take my sister to a Knight, Alexander Evans, hoping he'd protect her but I don't know if they'll get to her before Chesire finds out. I want to make sure she's safe myself, and let her know I'm safe…. Well, still alive at least… Please… After that, you can do whatever you want with me, turn me in to Mil Pol or whatever." Amber looked pleadingly at Keegan who was trying to look away but found himself unable to evade his conscience. He turned to Shiro once more.

"Like I said before, you're the mission leader." However, this time the response was lacking any of the airiness or the sing-song tone in her voice, instead holding warmth, almost wisdom. Keegan nodded to her before turning back to Amber. There was a short pause as he gave her a thoughtful look, his options racing through his head before he gave a sigh and raised his free hand to a wireless earpiece in his left ear.

"Thanley, you there?"

"Yes sir." Came a static filled response. Electronic communication was available but limited by the damage to infrastructure and signals blocked by ruin.

"How's the B-Rank sweep going?"

"We checked the site and found what was probably Krier and Bailey. The van was empty, whatever was in there is long gone. No sign of the three trespassers either."

"Yeah, about the trespassers. We found one of them. Warm up the truck and get everyone back together. We'll be there in 10."

"Sir?"

"The mission is a bust. On the other hand, a kind of complicated situation popped up. We need to get back asap."

"Copy that." Keegan turned his gaze back to Amber, who watched him anxiously.

"We get your sister. Then my superior will decide what to do with you."

**Approximately Half an Hour Later**

Marcy scrambled through the breach in the city wall, going as fast as she could while staying careful not to cut herself on any rebar or debris. Ezrael was already keeping a watch on the other side and helped her to her feet before covering up the breach with planks of loose plywood.

"When is Chesire expecting us?" Ez inquired solemnly, already starting towards the market, which they had to cut through to reach Amber's "home".

"We're a couple hours early. Thank god for the sewer shortcut. We should have enough breathing room to get Ana to safety." Marcy took shallow breaths as she followed, hastening her pace. It did not take a genius to tell that she was barely keeping her panic under control. Her best friend was lost alone in a dark sewer somewhere being hunted by either Knights or god knows what monstrosities the Ruin had given birth to, they were probably on the shit list of Oasis' most dangerous criminal which meant Adriana was as well, and not just Ana. She swallowed a whimper at the thought of her own little brother, not even Ana's age yet, being dragged into this mess of hers. She wondered is Alexander Evans would be willing to protect him as well.

Both the Rabbits pulled on their hoods, trying to remain inconspicuous as they entered the crowded market. A brawl was taking place at a gun dealer's, which seemed to attract most of the attention, much to their relief. They had made it about halfway across when out of nowhere, a skeletal form wrapped its bony arms around Marcy's chest, causing her to yelp before she felt something wet slide across her cheek. It was then that the two Rabbits were hit with a foul yet familiar stench, almost enough to make them gag. The figure continued affectionately licking Marcy's face as she protested and desperately tried to break free. The tall and unhealthily thin 18-year old boy had a surprisingly firm grip despite his size.

"Argh! Tweak, get off me!" Marcy yelled, her already being on edge, seemed to add venom into her words that she had not intended. Almost immediately, the grip was released and Tweak slunk back down to the floor where he sat on all fours and made whining noises, looking up at Marcy with sunken yet wide cerulean eyes. Realizing that she'd been a lot meaner than intended, Marcy raised her hands in apology.

"I'm sorry Tweak, I promise I'll drop by your store soon, but we don't have time right now."

"What's the big rush?" The drawling and condescending voice caused Marcy and Ezrael to freeze, the blood in their veins freezing along with them. Tweak's eyes widened even further in fear and trepidation when he saw the source of the voice and he quietly scampered away back into the market. The two Rabbits slowly turned to find a sleek yet powerful male teenaged body, almost like a panther, clad in an unbuttoned white dress shirt with a black tank top underneath and dark cargo pants. His features were fairly effeminate, enough so that he might have been mistaken for a girl given a different body build. His raven, medium-long hair flowed freely past his chin on the left side partially obscuring his left eye while the right side was tucked behind his ear and held in place with a set of pins. The darkness of his hair contrasted greatly with his pale cream colored skin, which might have seemed pretty but only added to the intimidating cold stare of his sea green eyes.

Isaak Chesire was accompanied by a pair of burly goons one wielding a baseball bat and the other a sledgehammer. Chesire himself seemed unarmed, yet, anyone who knew anything, knew that he was the most dangerous of the bunch. Reputation preceding him, the entire crowd steered clear of him and took extra care not to meet his eyes with theirs, lest they lose them to him. The blood drained from Marcy's face as she clumsily tried to piece words together.

"Chesire! Wha- why- when- what are you do-doing in this part of town?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I figured I'd take a walk around one of my _trusted employee's _neighborhood. I didn't expect you back for a couple more hours. I gotta say, I'm impressed, you guys work a lot faster than I expected! I'll have to employ your services again." Chesire voice droned in an almost melodic tune but not once did the sarcasm leave his voice as he stepped up close to a petrified Marcy who was trying her absolute best not to show her fear. He circled her as he spoke like a predator would prey, a shark's grin plastering his face. As he approached her front once more, he gently pushed aside her side-swept straight bangs that covered her forehead. His next words came as a whisper as he drew his feminine lips towards her ear.

"You seem to be missing one."

"She… She didn't make it." As far as Marcy knew, that was the truth. Chesire drew away from her, his expression now made of stone and unreadable.

"Unfortunate. And my package?" The bombshell. _He knew._ With his behavior, how he "coincidentally" ran into them on the complete opposite side of the city where he usually stayed and was supposed to meet them. Somehow, news of their failure had already reached him.

"Chesire, we-"

"You what? Oh, don't tell me you didn't manage to do your job? No no no, the thought would be absurd!" His condescending voice rose to a crescendo, as it dripped with sarcasm and faked shock.

"After all-" His two henchmen started to close in as an evil smile of pure murderous intent and cruelty crept across his face.

"We all know what would happen if you failed." Without warning, Marcy was pulled aside by a strong arm, before she saw a flame fly past her face. The road flare soared straight at Chesire but missed its mark as he almost casually twisted his body to the side, watching the flaming stick sail past his chest. Instead, the road flare hit one of his henchmen square in the chest and his oil stained shirt instantly caught ablaze and he started screaming in agony.

"Come on!" Marcy was suddenly dragged along by Ezrael who had a firm grip on her arm and after a moment's struggle, managed to regain her footing and run on her own.

"What the hell was that, Ez?"

"Hey, this is why I always pack flares. Let's split up. I'll go get Ana. Your brother should still be in school, get to him while he's still in Order territory. I'll come find you after." Marcy blinked, caught off guard by her friend's suggestion. Apparently, her worry had not gone unnoticed. She simply nodded and as they reached a junction, turned in the direction of the Order HQ, where her brother was going to "school", free lessons on self defense and basic education provided by the Order. As she ran, she silently whispered thanks to Ez and wished him good luck. Maybe, they'd somehow make it out of this mess in one piece.

Isaac Chesire impassively watched his prey run with an ice cold expression, making no effort to give chase. The crowd had been thrown into a chaos from the fire, pushing and screaming at each other to get away from the danger and quickly shielded the two Rabbits from his view. Under his ice-chiseled face, hid his masked fury at this failure. There was nowhere they could run in this city that he would not be able to find them, even if they hid in Order territory, how long could a bunch of criminals stay there? No, he would have their heads in due time.

Chesire turned away from his prey, averting his gaze to his fallen henchman whose partner was desperately trying to put out the flames as he continued screaming in pure agony from his scorched flesh. In places where the flames had died out, the damage had already been done, the meat charred and seared directly to the bone from direct exposure to a flame. The dying man started whimpering, a sight that disgusted Chesire to no measure. Stepping towards his former employee, he drew a CZ 75 automatic handgun, his personal lucky charm, that had been strapped under his belt behind him and lazily pointed it down on the burned man. Without hesitation, pulled the trigger and the gunshot further added fuel to the chaotic fire of the crowd, the screams growing louder and the boots of military police arriving on scene could be heard. The bullet drilled into the man's skull and splattered the floor with his brains and spraying red and pink everywhere.

"Shut up." Chesire muttered quietly and sharply as he put his gun away and signaled his remaining henchmen to follow as he walked away, the far larger man obeying in utter fear. Chesire whistled into the air as the heavily armed riot police ran past him, thinking about the one silver lining in this whole mess. He thought about how his scouts outside the wall had spotted the two Rabbits approaching the wrong side of the wall much too early and radioed in on an old walkie talkie network he'd smuggled in, how he had figured out what it meant almost immediately, and he smirked as he thought of how fortunate it was that he'd already sent that 14-year old, crimson-haired assassin girl after Adriana O'Hara.

**10 minutes before the confrontation in the market**

Adriana set the paper bag containing about ½ a cabbage, a teacup of rice and the best of all, 2 slices of bacon that she'd managed to bargain a reasonable price for, on their table, which was really nothing more than a cardboard box with a cloth draped over it. When Amber told her that she was doing a job that would get her enough to finally get their own place in one shot, Ana had been slightly wary. It simply sounded too good to be true but Amber had assured her that it was a safe job, well, as safe as a Rabbit's job could be.

Despite her reservations, Ana decided to trust in her older sister's judgment and instead, worked extra hard as well to earn extra calbs to buy a good meal for them both to celebrate upon her sister's return. She did not earn as much as her sister did, and she felt guilty that she had not been able to scrounge up even anything close to what her sister had for her birthday yesterday. However, what she had mixed with the leftovers from the night before was still a better meal than normal indeed.

The price of fresh meat had soared and it was now considered a delicacy that usually only the rich enjoyed, so that made the bacon that she'd managed to procure all the more special for the special occasion. Adriana started putting the food into containers, so she could prepare them later, as her sister said that she would be back a few hours later. As she worked, she thought about how life had been since their father had left them. The early days had been so tough, two young girls thrown on the street alone, and they still had to cope with the loss of their only family outside of themselves. They had spent so long fighting starvation before Amber became a Rabbit to support them. Ana had tried to convince Amber to join the Order in recent years, her experience and skills would no doubt ensure that she would rise the ranks quickly, but after neither the Order nor the Government took responsibility for the mission that took their father from them, Amber refused to have anything to do with them, no matter how desperate they were. And yet, they'd made it, and soon, they would no longer have to call a dark and humid alley their home. They would be able to afford a small shack all to themselves.

"You'd be so proud of her, Papa." Ana whispered to herself.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the "front door" being pulled open.

_That's odd, she shouldn't be back for at least 3 hours._

Adriana turned around to find a girl, about her sister's age yet a complete stranger to her, staring at her expressionless. A sense of caution and nervousness shot through her as she turned her back to the table, trying to secretly go for the small knife Amber had given her that now lay in her pouch as the stranger started walking slowly towards her. Nervous words escaped Ana's lips in a soft yet firm whisper.

"Who are you?"

**End Note: Anyone else having issues with the website o.O It was like down for me the whole day and when it came back up, things were like missing and stuff. Anyways, I'm pretty tired tonight so ima just end it off here and I'll respond to reviews next chapter haha Sumimasen! But like I said, I'll spend some time on All That We Are for a bit but rest assured, this story is still high on my to do list. :)**


	8. Chapter 6: Home Sweet Home

**Note: Hellooooo, eh, I don't have much to say tbh, so let's just get right into it, shall we? :D**

Annaleise Callen absently twirled one of her beloved Sai in her left hand, her pinky finger wrapped around the thin blade, while she traced the ugly scar, that contorted her mouth in a permanent twisted smirk, with the Sai in her other hand. She thought about the target, just 2 years younger than her own 14 years, before shoving the thought out of her head. In her line of work, the moment she let her targets become human to her, her job became exponentially harder to do. She took the picture of the target out from her pocket once more, committing her young features, mousy auburn hair and kind smile to memory. Supposedly, it had been taken without her knowledge right as she left her workplace, but yet, the photo captured the beauty of her youth perfectly.

Annaleise was told that she lived alone with her older sister, who would not be there, thus there was really no need to memorize Adriana O'Hara's face. However, she took no chances and always made sure her job was done with no mistakes. Besides, in exchange for taking their life, she owed her victims the minimum of remembering their faces.

She stuffed the photo back into her pocket, brushing a few loose crimson locks out of her eyes, while continuing down the alleyway, with pieces of cardboard covering up the end of it, the young corpse-to-be on the other side. Annaleise absently gave her respect for how the two sisters had managed to make do under such conditions. As she reached for their "front door" with one hand, she readied the Sai in the other, intent of making this quick and clean. She flung the obstacle aside and lunged forward, trained eyes immediately scanning the vicinity to find… Nothing.

_What?_

Annaleise's expression grew confused as she swept the "house" with her eyes once more, not finding a single living soul. An old mattress set in the corner while a paper bag with half its food contents lay half prepared on a stool that seemed to act as a dining table. Evidently, Adriana had left quite abruptly. Annaleise looked down, finally noticing two pairs of wet footprints on the cardboard laid out on the floor as a "carpet", seeing that one pair was apparently barefooted and belonged to a pair of small feet. She turned around, staring back down the alleyway from which she came, the realization dawning upon her that her target had escaped. Her face turned slightly pale when she realized that she had to report this to her employer, Isaak Chesire.

"Well, shit."

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Dimitri Slevenko, better known as Dima, deftly wiped away at the ragged wound in the squatter's neck with an alcohol swab, intent of keeping it from getting infected. The scrawny and malnutritioned man winced and cursed as the stinging liquid entered his bloodstream. After he was satisfied with his work, Dima pulled the now bloody swab of cotton wool away from the wound and released it from his tweezers over rubbish bin. The then proceeded to apply some antiseptic cream that he had recently managed to come by to the wound before covering it with a clean gauze and bandage.

"There, that should keep infection away. But if it gets worse, come back and I'll give you a shot." Dima's strong Russian accent was emphasized by his deep, husky voice, yet somehow managed to remain gentle.

"Thanks, Doc, I honestly don't know what woulda happened if it weren't for you."

"Please. All I did was clean your wound and bandage it. But try to stay out of trouble next time."

"Hey, the other guy was asking for it!" The squatter called back as he left Dima's clinic, set up in what had once been a pharmacy. When Dima had acquired the property, it had been completely looted and empty, but he had managed to restock and reequip the place with his Order salary. The Order might be many things, but a bad pay day was not one of them, especially for an A-Rank Knight.

Dima closed the door before returning to his medical cabinet and taking inventory of his remaining medical supplies and drugs. His stores were decent and would last him for awhile, assuming there was no sudden outbreak of disease or injuries, however, prescription drugs and most of the medicine he used were a limited resource. Not to mention, equipment like hypodermic needles were the same. Without manufacturers, these things would only get harder and harder to come by. Dima sighed as he wrote down the numbers onto his notebook, records that he updated everyday.

He heard the door open before hearing a quiet but firm and familiar voice.

"Hey Doc."

Dima smiled at the sound of his friend, Duncan Abiel's, voice, turning his entire, body-builder like, form to face him, only for the smile to drop. Duncan was built at an average height with an athletic frame, but could not compare to Dima's who stood at 6 foot tall and built like a bear, compliments of his upbringing in Mother Russia. Duncan also had a large bloody tear in his right pant, an ugly gash extending from his thigh to just above his ankle.

Dima immediately motioned his friend to his operating table, the spoils of a scavenging run to an old hospital, while he skillfully selected an assortment of drugs, gauze and other medical supplies from his cabinet before laying them out on a trolley and wheeling them over to Duncan who had just limped over to the table with a grimace on his face. Duncan's crew cut brown hair was glistening in his sweat and his boyish features covered in a layer of grime and dirt.

"Lie down." Dima's voice was commanding and Duncan had no desire to disobey.

Dima carefully cut away the ruined pants from Duncan's leg, wiping away the dirt and blood from the area surrounding the wound with a wet towel before carefully examining it.

"What happened?"

"Eh, ran into a horde and caught a real bad fall giving them the slip. Fell maybe, what, 2 stories? ARGH, FUCK!" Duncan cursed as the towel came into contact with his wound.

And got my leg cut on rebar." He finished, panting.

"Well, good news is that nothing seems to be broken. However, I don't have access to x-rays here, so you should drop by med bay when you get back to HQ. Speaking of which, why didn't you just go back to HQ?"

"You know as well as I do that med bay isn't cheap, even for us."

Dima knew all too well. It was the whole reason he had set up his free clinic in the slums. None of the sick and homeless could ever afford the modern medical aid provided at the Order's hospital wing, set up in the med school of the old university where HQ resided. Due to the shortages of medicine, even Knights had to pay to use it, while at discounted prices still proved to be exorbitant.

Dima gently pressed on the other side of Duncan's leg, causing him to wince, thus revealing the probability of a cracked bone.

"Well, I'll do what I can, but I can't guarantee a full recovery without Order resources."

Duncan sighed, knowing that his friend was telling him there was only so much he could do.

"It'll do."

With that, Dima got to work.

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Ezreal raced through the labyrinth of alleyways that concealed Amber's home, the girl being paranoid enough to have set up her place in such a maze. He only hoped that it would help to delay Chesire long enough for him to take Ana to safety. As he rounded the last corner, he caught sight of a glint in the edge of his vision, causing him to throw his feet upwards by pure reflex and let his body fall to the ground. Something very sharp sliced through the air where his head had just been before changing its course and having its point get driven straight towards his heart. Ezreal rolled away from the attacker just in time to keep himself from being impaled, the blade embedding itself into the wet concrete floor.

Not wasting the moment of reprieve, Ezreal rolled to a crouch and brought his rifle's sights to bear on… a teenaged girl? The girl had long, impossibly crimson hair that made it seem like a wild fire erupted from the top of her head. In other circumstances, he might have been entranced by the beautiful flame, but at that moment, he was not in the mood to get burned. Ezreal gasped slightly when he saw the grotesque scar on her face, half of what the Joker from Batman had, only minus the demented clown motif. Her neon green eyes watched him impassively as though she was the one with the gun trained on him. A resounding "chink", echoed off the walls of the alleyway as she pulled the dagger, which looked like an oversized fork that was longer in the center than the sides. It marveled him how she had managed to penetrate the ground with her small and skinny frame.

"Freeze. I don't want any trouble." The girl did not respond but to Ez's relief, she did not make a move either.

"Ez!" The youthful and girly voice made his heart skip a beat with relief. Ezreal turned his head slightly but did not dare take his eyes off the girl.

"Ana?"

"No time to explain, we need to go." The voice belonged to a girl who did not sound unlike Ana. Caught off guard, Ezreal instinctively turned to look at the stranger.

"Look out!" He turned back to his attacker just in time to see her lunge straight at him. She had already gotten too close for him to get a shot off so he threw his body back in an attempt to dodge. As he fell backwards, a small body of pure white flew past from behind him, intercepting the attacker mid-lunge causing both of them to be knocked backwards. Ezreal felt something wet splatter onto his face and used his fingers to wipe it off, only to see a dark red smear his fingers. He looked back at the struggle in front of him. The red-headed girl was now struggling for control of her weapons with another girl, slightly smaller than her, who seemed to be the definition of snow. Her skin was so pale, it was almost translucent and glowing while her hair was the color of a winter whiteout. Somehow, despite her smaller stature, she seemed not to struggle with pinning the other girl to the ground, although Ez noticed a trickle of red that stained her tattered hoodie at her abdomen.

"Go, get her out of here." The girl's voice was calm and melodious, nothing that would indicate the situation she was in, not even showing any indication of pain from her wound. Ezreal hesitated and made an attempt to help only for the girl to bark back in a much more aggressive tone.

"You promised Amber to keep her safe didn't you? Get out of here!" Ezreal stopped short, blood draining from his face.

_Impossible._

"How do you kn-" Ezreal's body froze up as the girl shot her heterochromic eyes, the right grey while the other was a hazel similar to Amber and Ana's, in a bloodcurdling glare. Just her gaze was enough to send a hundred fight or flight signals, all in the favor of flight, surging through his nerves. Without another word, he did a 180, and made a beeline for the exit of the alleyway, grabbing Ana's hand as he passed, leaving the sounds of struggle behind. The young girl screamed and shouted for them to go back and help the girl who had saved them. Ezreal paid no heed and focused his mind at his only mission at hand, to keep the sister of one of his best friends safe. After all, he knew the moment his eyes met hers. She needed no help at all.

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The truck rumbled along the debris-covered road, the wheels bumping off the assorted small pieces of rumble scattering the street. Oasis personnel had removed most of the larger obstructions from the major road but it was impossible to completely smooth out the path.

One particularly large bump caught Amber off-guard, causing her head to bump into the low ceiling of the Order military transport.

"Oww!"

Amber winced and rubbed the back of her head, feeling the foundation of a bruise forming. As the pain started to fade, Amber sighed and took a nervous look around the transport, feeling exceedingly out of place and not at all oblivious of the looks of disdain that had been shot her way. Not all Order members were this way but quite a number of them came from more well-to-do families, resulting in a sense of elitism as well as stereotyping against Rabbits, thinking they were all the equivalent of hoodlums, thieves and overall good for nothings.

_Well, I guess that's not TOO far from the truth. _

"Hey there."

Amber turned her head in surprise, not having expected any of the Knights to actually interact with her with both her A-Rank friends, Shiro and Keegan riding up front in the cab with Keegan driving. She looked up slightly to find a tall young man, skin bronzed to near perfection, with sharp facial features adorned with a pair of grey blue eyes that could only be described as the color of mountains and framed by straight raven hair that fell to his neck, curling slightly at the front. In contrast to his reasonably good looks, was an ugly scar, a knife wound, Amber guessed, that ran beside his left eye although it seemed to suit him. He wore his Order uniform shirt unbuttoned over a red and black t-shirt underneath and a simple pair of blue jeans and boots. Without turning away from her, he reached behind him for something before gently setting a battered rifle in her lap.

Amber's eyes widened and a soft gasp escaped her when she realized that it was HER ruined rifle, barely held together by layers of duct tape. She had figured it was a lost cause after the debris had fallen on it. She looked back up at the Knight with shocked and questioning eyes, the latter simply shrugging.

"Saw the stock sticking out from under the debris. Pulled it out but it didn't belong to any of my guys so I asked Jade about it. Told me it was the last thing your dad handed down to you."

Amber looked back down at the rifle, suddenly feeling a sting in her chest at the mention of her father. She gave a nod of gratitude as the Knight took a seat next to her.

"Did what I could but it's gonna need some serious work and a lot of spare parts before you can pull the trigger again." Amber noted that his voice was clear and comforting, like the kind of voice that people would really listen to.

Amber snorted and mumbled softly.

"Great… Just another addition to the endless shit list."

The Knight stuck out his hand towards her causing Amber to give him a strange look, not entirely sure what he was doing.

"Wyatt. Wyatt Cerins. Now normally you're supposed to shake my hand, or do Rabbits not know what a handshake is?" Amber slowly extended her hand for the handshake as well, although her cheeks turned slightly pink at being called out.

"Amber O'Hara. I always thought handshakes were for people you _trusted." _ Wyatt's smile slowly faded away, as it now became his turn to be indignant.

"I'm sorry, it's just quite amusing that a Rabbit, or maybe I should say crook, is talking about trust."

"Yeah, well maybe if your government wasn't so busy lining their own pockets, I wouldn't have to crawl through shit just for a slice of bread to feed myself and my sister." Amber's voice had risen slightly, her words laced with venom and obvious hatred for the corruption in the government. Wyatt was taken aback and Amber dropped his hand, looking away from him and back to her feet, ignoring the sideways glances from every other pair of eyes in the back of the truck.

"And Jade wonders why I never joined the Order…" She muttered under her breath. Minutes of silence passed, which suited Amber just fine, before Wyatt finally spoke up, his tone now slightly more respectful.

"Look, I apologize if I offended you. That wasn't my intention. I just wanted to clear up that the Order is completely separate and different from the Government but still, I was out of line. I have no right to judge you for what you've had to do to survive." His heartfelt apology was met only with silence, although he noted that the teenaged girl had become noticeably less tense. He accepted that that was all he was going to get and turned away as well, mentally cursing himself for letting his mouth run. His best friend, Spencer always said he had the gift for talking although his Achilles heel was that he talked too much.

It was not long before Amber felt the vehicle come to a stop, before the back door lowered into a ramp, letting in the cool evening air. With trained coordination, all the B-Rank Knights piled out before she alone was left to exit at her own pace. She took a glance at her "repaired" rifle before slinging it on her shoulder and climbing out of the truck, immediately spotting the A-Ranks and walking towards them. Keegan spotted her coming and gave her a curt nod before finishing his conversation with the gate guards. The rest of the Knights were all walking back into the city, chatting amongst themselves, leaving the 4 of them alone as one of the guards drove the truck back to the depot and the rest returned to their posts.

As she approached, all 3 A-Rankers, "Enigma" as they had named their team, as well as Shiro turned towards her, sending a certain chill of nervousness down her spine. Even though 2 of them were close friends of hers, they were all still the elite of the organization that now housed humanity's greatest fighters. Especially seeing all three of them together like this, the atmosphere was rather daunting.

"Okay, let's make this quick. And don't forget our deal, you WILL face my superior for judgment."

"Oh give it a rest, Keeg." Barbie scowled, exasperation and annoyance evident in her voice.

"I just want to make sure we're crystal clear here."

"Look, whatever you want to do with me, fine. Just… Can we just make sure my sister's safe first?" Amber tried to sound as firm as she could but there was no way she could keep the desperation from creeping into her voice. However, it seemed to have a positive effect as Keegan noticeably relented before leading the team back into the city at a jog. Amber gave directions to her place while Keegan was secretly impressed that she was able to keep up with their pace.

As they passed the marketplace however, they saw that the square had been cordoned off by the military police causing them to stop briefly for Keegan to question a soldier about it. Upon hearing about how a man had been burned alive and that Isaac Chesire had been spotted on the scene, Amber's anxiety was swiftly rekindled and she broke off in a run. The others followed as they exchanged looks while running, all the while, Amber's face was a mask of trepidation.

_She's safe. You're overthinking things._

Amber was so lost in her fears that she was not paying attention to what was around the corner, running face first into a tall male body. Both of them had been running towards each other but Amber was of course the much smaller mass, resulting in the male body collapsing over her body as the both crashed to the ground with surprised cries of pain.

"Amy!" Amber's eyes shot open with a gasp, her eyes widening as she heard the frantic yet kind high-pitched voice.

"A-A-Ana?" She moved her head so that she could see over the grunting Ezreal's back and sure enough, a scared looking 12-year old girl with the same auburn strands and hazel eyes as hers was standing with her hands cupped over her mouth and her eyes wide with worry. Ezreal painfully pushed himself off Amber, causing her to be suddenly aware of a large number of pains all over her body but she did not care. She scrambled to her feet as fast as she could and wrapped her arms around the most precious treasure she had left, completely overwhelmed in emotion. She broke down into sobs and tears as her embrace tightened around her beloved sister.

"Thank god. Thank god you're safe." Her voice broke as she finished her sentence. In her outburst, she failed to notice Barbie and Jade both watching her tenderly before exchanging knowing smiles, a sight that was rarer than unicorns. Even Keegan gave a signature sigh before the ghost of a smile played on his lips.

On the other hand, Shiro's face was one of surprise as the sight of sisterly love brought her mind back to events that had occurred long ago, and of someone dear to her that she had lost. Her expression grew pained and sad as she looked away to hide a tear falling from her eye, her hand instinctively rubbing the bottom of her katana's sheath.

Ezreal took a look around his surroundings, looking incredibly confused at the sudden turn of events. Looking back and forth between the two sisters and the Knights, he finally put two and two together and realization set in. His eyes widened as he realized that he was in big trouble as well.

_Oh shit. _

All attention being focused on Amber and Adriana, Ezreal comically tried to sneak away on all fours.

"And where do you think you're going?" Ezreal froze as his head slowly and jerkily turned to face around him, his expression incredulously nervous. He recognized the source of the voice, Keegan Rosario, as the leader of the rank 3 team in the Order with one of his eyebrows raised as well as recognizing his team members on his flank. To his utter shock and dismay, he also saw that rank 1 Knight Shiro was next to him as well.

_I'm dead. Gone. Hades' play thing. God save my soul. _

There was absolutely no chance of either him or Amber escaping.

"I remember you. Ezreal Contra. You topped your class for ingenuity. I personally nominated you for A-Rank."

"Uh- ah- you've got the wrong guy?"

"Yeah, nice try. I really hope you have an amazing explanation for Commander Vargas as to why you've been AWOL for 2 years."

_God. Just kill me. _

"Ez." Ezreal was caught off guard by the soft and quivering voice. He turned to find Amber's tear and snot stained face looking straight at him. She rubbed her nose and eyes with her arms before speaking once more.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." Ezreal nervously scratched the back of his head, his emotions mixed due to their predicament with the Order as well as the sisters' happy reunion.

"Eh, well, honestly wasn't actually me. You should thank that friend of yours, at least I think she's your friend." Amber blinked, confusion washing over her as she clearly did not follow.

"She said she was paying back a favor for saving her. She looked kind of odd though, everything about her was just… white, almost like she was made of snow. What was her name…" Ana bit her lip trying to recall her meeting with the mysterious girl, leaving Amber with a dumbfounded expression.

_No way. No fucking way. It can't be her. How did she even-_

"Caeli?" Adriana snapped her fingers and Amber could almost see the lightbulb turn on in her head.

"That's it! Caeli!"

A million questions raced through Amber's head.

How had Caeli make her way to Oasis that quickly?

How had she found Ana?

Heck, how did she even know what Ana looked like?

"She knew about us promising you to get to Ana."

_Must've heard it right before I met her. _

A sudden thought entered Amber's head as she took a look around her.

"Hey Ez? Where's Marcy?"

"Oh yeah. About that…"

**Welp, there's the chapter. I figured I'd end it off here to legitimize the use of a small time lapse and cause if I kept writing, I would not be able to end it off for a while and the chapter would get too long. Oh well… Anywho, I promised responses to reviews and therefore I shall keep my promise ^.^**

**Just a clarification as to how Order ranking works. There are team rankings as well as individual rankings and Knights operate both in teams, as well as solo. I will go more in depth about this in the coming chapters where it'll get heavily involved with the Order so stay tuned! Oh, 1 more thing, I'm flying to Japan for a week in 2 days, YOU JEALOUS?! *****Evil laugh***** muahahahahaa**

**AncientUnicorn: Ehhh, I try my best to fit in all characters I receive at SOME point in my stories, even if just as side characters. **

**I wouldn't say some BIG as in BIG is coming haha although incoming important plot device ^.^ I think some can already guess what, or rather who it involves. **

**Just a small teaser of my ever growing love of writing violence and gore ;P **

**Mystoggan: Bleh, Idk, everytime I read through my own writing I can't help but feel my descriptions are either somewhat lacking or all over the place. Like there's too much going on in my head to properly put down in words X.X**

**The next chapter is gonna cover Marcy's mission to rescue her brother ^.^ **

**Rottovoce: No worries ^.^ I finally gave Duncan an appearance! I hope that it's satisfactory for you . **

**Eh, about my dialogue, welllll weird thing is that it kinda comes from me actively talking to myself haha and I always have these weird conversations in my head so when I write dialogue, I play it out as though im actually having a convo and see if it sounds natural, or at least not cringey like a syfy movie. (I can't believe the scripts for those actually make it into the industry -.-) **

**The measurements thing is kind of a hot and cold thing with me. Sometimes it seems okay to me but at other times I like to keep it vague to approximation. Guess it depends on how im writing at the time haha**

**Awesome D.T: D.T Chaaaaaaaan **

**Well, Amber pretty much believed she was going to die so I guess she figured she might as make sure her sister is safe and allow someone who reminds her of her sister to survive ^.^ **

**I absolutely HATE sewers and any of that icky gritty stuff. I even refuse to walk barefooted on grass. But hey, you tend to be able to describe the stuff you hate exceedingly well haha**

**Caeli has that kind of detached from the world feel to her doesn't she? Eh, many people survive outside the walls of Oasis although they do tend to be of the less desirable variety. Although Caeli kinda seems like she's a little out of it doesn't she? Almost like the Ruins are new to her ;)**

**I pulled a total Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum on Barbie and Jade there haha When I read the OC forms and saw that they both had crushes on Amber I was like, well then, here we go. **

**Amber: Pwease stahp puwwing ron mwai chweeks =.= **

**Shiro-Chan does seem awfully similar to **_**her **_**doesn't she? ;) I think I mentioned once that I had an ATWA cameo in the same chapter that she was introduced :O Hmmmmmmmm**

**Chesire has criminal mastermind written all over him haha Well as far as weaknesses go, even Chesire avoids messing with the Order as much as he can. There's being ruthless, and then there's having a deathwish xD One does not simply poker face Chesire haha**

**Keeping someone from their beloved family member is like kicking a dog. You just don't do it, no matter who you are, you just don't. QwQ **


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